Dead Men Tell No Tales
by Bloodypleasures
Summary: After faking his own death, Alfred boarded a pirate ship under the belief it was a safe supply ship. Now he has a choice; either join the Emerald Dragon's crew, or drown in the seas trying to swim to land… Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Hello hello! This is my first Hetalia fanfic so it will probably suck Alfred's jingle bells, but I still felt the need to write it and upload it onto fanfiction! So, here it is. **

**Some things might not be history accurate. Sometimes references will seem unclear, don't hesitate to ask about it and I will make it clear, cause I forget that a lot (derp). **

**The story will be set in the year 1711 (I think lol), in the midst of the Golden Age of Piracy (which it wasn't called in that time, though)**

**I'm not too sure about the rating yet, either. I want to make it a M-rated story, but first I have to see if I will be capable of doing so xD **

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Every man once has to make a very important decision in his life. Decisions connected with marriage, work, money.

These were exactly the decisions Alfred was avoiding. After his family had successfully managed to work themselves into a large debt by taking loan upon loan, they had decided to try and marry their children into wealthy families.

His siblings might not have cared so much as he did; but Alfred enjoyed being a free man. As the oldest of three, he would have to take over his father's business as well, after he got married. He had to pay off their loans and only had to hope he would be able too.

His younger brother, Matthew, earlier told their father he would be more than happy to fulfill this task. But, his father wouldn't have it. Alfred really didn't understand why, because Matthew, though incredibly shy, was more responsible than he was.

Which brings us to his biggest decision yet. In favor of marrying and ending up with debts, Alfred faked his own death. It wasn't too hard really, he had used the blood of the chickens in the kitchen who had yet to be prepared. He soaked pieces of his nightgown with this blood and led a trail to the window, staging it to be a kidnap as well. His house was fairly close to the docks, so it would be possible his murderer dumped his body in the seas.

It was the perfect lie, Alfred was assured of it. He looked at the docks of his small town as he wandered around quietly. He had to leave soon though, as soon as breakfast would be served his family would notice his disappearance. Even though his death would be believable, they would search for him just in hope.

He felt sad thinking about how heartbroken his family must be, but he couldn't risk going back now. He wandered around the docks and paid no mind to the sailors carrying boxes to their boats and back, probably supplies.

His initial idea was to travel with a boat to either another country or place, he didn't really care. Once there, he wanted to make arrangements to perhaps move to New England. He had heard great stories about Virginia Colony and Connecticut Colony.

Most of the ships at the docks were supply ships, but he couldn't just board any ship. He looked at their sailors carefully before sighing and kicking a pebble on the road. It was slowly getting too late and he hadn't found anything yet.

His eyes travelled back and forth, and after politely helping some ungrateful bastards with an exceptionally heavy crate, his eyes fell on a ship with dark wood, elegant red paintings on the sides and beautifully carved rails. According to the flag, it was a supply ship. He stalked closer and couldn't believe his luck as the guard was just released by another.

They spoke English. That meant they must go to a colony, or to some other part of England. This was his best chance!

The following steps of his plan went rather smoothly. As he had expected (and seen many times), it got really busy around half past six, as everyone got ready to depart. It wasn't hard to sneak on the ship by pretending to help with some crates, holding them up high enough to hide his face from other sailors.

He easily found a weapon supply room and eased behind some crates. This was too easy. Something almost felt wrong, but he shrugged and leaned back. The heavens had always been fortunate with him so why shouldn't they now? Even if he was caught, the ship was a simple supply ship, there should be nothing wrong with being caught. He would just explain and pay them money, he had some with him, and he could work. Surely the captain of the ship would sympathize, and just drop his sorry behind on the next dock available. Just like he wanted.

Alfred closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, grinning stupidly. This was going perfect! He felt a pang of guilt by making his family worry, but he had no other choice. His family would have never listened to him. He had met the girl he was supposed to marry and she was a darling, really, but she wasn't in love with him.

He couldn't do that to her. He knew social etiquette and that most people didn't love each other as they married, but he liked to think of himself different. Or at least he liked to think he had done the girl a good deed. She would have a chance of finding a loveable young man, now that he wasn't there.

And Mattie too. He would now be able to take over his father's company, like he had wanted since he was young. He knew he wouldn't have to worry about Albert, the youngest of three. He had all the freedom in the world and people adored him, for personality wise he was a lot like Alfred.

He hoped both of them would stick around long enough to soothe the broken heart of his poor mother, though. His mother loved her sons more than anything, but for her sake he didn't say goodbye. She would've tortured herself with thoughts; Why didn't I notice? She would have known that Alfred knew something, if he had made a grand show of the night before he left. Now it seemed like a coincidental murder.

He frowned and pressed his lips together a little harder. Perhaps, in a few years, he could come back and see how things are going. Once he was settled and had a life of his own, then he would able to come by and surprise his family.

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><p>The first thing Alfred noticed when he was awoke, was that he awoke on a different place than expected. This wasn't his bed.<p>

He realized soon after about his adventure the day before, and noticed he was still on a different place than to be expected. First, he was lying, and in the space behind the crates he only had enough room to sit.

Second, the smell of gunpowder was replaced by the smell of salt and dirt. He squinted his eyes. It was also a lot brighter.

After his eyes focused he realized he was in the open air. The blue sky seemed too clear for a typical English day and he groaned, sitting up. He had a terrible headaches, and when he rubbed his head he felt a bump. Did he fight? He couldn't remember.

"Well, if it ain't the stowaway wakin' up from his beauty sleep." Someone sneered and Alfred looked up, his eyes protesting from the bright light the blue sky provided him with. He blinked at the man above him, feeling a rather weird air coming from this situation. But, no matter, it was only a supply ship.

He cleared his throat and thought a proper introduction was needed. "I-"

"Oh shut yer trap. You, marooner!" He turned around to some poor sailor walking by. "Go call the cap'n. The souvenir woke up."

Souvenir? That's hardly a way to call someone. Alfred frowned and sat up a little straighter, not risking to stand. He didn't have the best sea legs, and it would be embarrassing if he fell straight on his face.

"Ye're in some _big _trouble, landlubber." The man said. Alfred looked at him again and noticed that underneath his dirty brown rag, he had dark brown hair, matching his dark brown eyes. He spoke in an accent too, but he didn't pay it any mind.

He noticed other sailors looking at him with smug grins and smirks, and he was about to comment on it, when the whispering and name-calling stopped abruptly by the sound of some boots. Alfred turned his head to the direction of the sound, and made a surprised sound at the man's attire.

A little… flamboyant, if he thought so himself. The man wore a red coat, golden like lines adorning it, underneath it a shirt with ruches. Perched on his wild blonde hair was a hat with feathers sticking out of it elegantly, few of them knotted together with gems. His bright green eyes contrasted against his coat and held a burning fire. His unnatural big eyebrows killed the picture though, and Alfred bit his lip to not grin at them.

He smiled at the captain, but dropped it when the captain raised his eyebrow. Something… was very wrong here, after all. The man's attire, the behavior of the sailors… He peeked a look at the flag. A pirate flag.

"Damn it." He whispered underneath his breath. The ship had seemed too fancy, too daring for a supply ship too, now he thought about it.

"What was that?" The captain required, and Alfred shut his mouth. He didn't need to know what the consequences of insulting pirates would be. The captain smirked, and Alfred looked at him again. Those eyebrows really were huge!

The captain loomed over him threateningly. "Who are you?"

"Alfred Jones, sir." Alfred replied as politely as he could. In the eyes of these pirates, the captain was their deity, so…

"Tell me, _Jones,_ what are you doing here?" For a pirate, he spoke English surprisingly well. Alfred cleared his throat again, feeling his dry throat terribly.

"Eh… I wanted to travel with you to the next dock." He weakly replied and some pirates burst out in laughter. The captain held a smirk.

"In the knowledge of who we are?"

"No." Alfred honestly replied. "There was a flag of England's Supply Ships. I've been… fooled."

"Hmm, that is a shame." The captain said slowly. "Well, see him to Davy Jones. Oh. What a coincidence." He snickered to himself.

Whoa, what? Davy Jones? Didn't that mean to kill him? His suspicions were confirmed when two men hurled him up and started to drag him to the side of the ship. Blasted, the only thing he saw here was sea. He would die from exhaustion if they didn't shoot him before that!

"Wait!" Alfred cried out, trying to remember what Mattie and him always said when one of them caught each other in their silly play of piracy. Par… Pearl? Oh! "Parley! I ask for Parley!"

He heard an irritated snarl and the two men released him, and he fell down on the deck with a heavy thud. The captain stomped back to him, muttering something about French frogs. He kneeled down and glared at him, trying to intimidate him.

"Parley is a meeting held between two superiors." He said lowly, threateningly. Alfred raised his eyebrows, it originated from that, yes, but nowadays any captain had to respond to it.

"That was a long time ago." He responded cleverly, but not mockingly. He saw the captain furrow his enormous brows and press his lips together, clearly debating whether to accept or to just ignore it and throw him in the seas. But wasn't it part of some code, pirate or sailor?

Finally he stood up. "See him to my quarters." With that, the captain walked off. Two men hurled him up again and followed their captain down a small stairs, and walked him into an already opened room. He was dropped unceremoniously again and this time he regained his footing, wobbling around.

"Leave." The two men were gone in an instant and the captain took place, swinging his legs on the desk. His boots pushed him off the table slightly so he was leaning backwards on his chair, and he held a small dagger to him. Alfred frowned.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"So it seems." The captain replied, dwindling it between his fingers. The only blue gem on it shone brightly in the sunlight streaming in from the one window. "Sit."

Alfred did as he was told and stiffly sat down, happy for the small distraction. So he asked for parley, but he had no idea what to do now. What was there to talk about? He bit the inside of his cheek. He could handle this politely or rudely; either way he was probably going to be ditched.

"Who are you?" He asked boldly, deciding on a mix of the two. The captain gave him an unreadable expression.

"You can call me Captain or sir. But, if it matters much… my name is Arthur Kirkland. You are aboard on the Emerald Dragon."

"Wow." Alfred managed to say. The Emerald Dragon was a fairly famous ship, known for its dangerous quarrels with other pirates and the Navy. Arthur smirked, and Alfred quickly recovered.

A silence followed, before Arthur irritably sighed. "Boy, you asked for parley. You will start talking now or I will throw you to the locker."

"Right." Alfred only said, before averting his eyes. Perhaps telling him why he came on the ship would be a good start. He was known for talking a lot, so if he started, perhaps he'd say something sensible. "I boarded your ship to escape my family. They have great debts and want me to marry someone I don't love. If I did I would inherit my father's business and debts."

"So you ran from your problems."

Alfred wisely chose to ignore that and continued. "With my disappearance, my younger brother will take over the business. He had always wanted too and will do a better job, so I saw no reason to not leave."

Arthur seemed unimpressed. "Do they think you are dead, lad?"

"I… think they do. I faked it."

"How?"

"I took chicken's blood and spread it over my bed, and made a trail to my window." It sounded more amateurish now than it did when he thought about it first. The captain smirked nonetheless.

"Amusing. What did you do with the chickens?"

"Fed it do the dogs."

Arthur chuckled lowly, placing the dagger back on the desk. "If you want to know, Alfred, the only possession we took is your dagger. Your papers and money are still in your pocket." Alfred remained still, not checking it, hoping he could believe the captain.

"The sole reason I got onto this ship was to travel to another dock. I have no money to hire a boat or to travel across land. If you'd be kind enough to let me live, I'll work for my stay." He promised, and Arthur cocked his head to one side before his legs snapped onto the ground, and he leant his chin on his hands, elbows on the table.

"Alfred, Alfred… they seem to think you are dead." Nod. "If I would simply let you go, I'd break an old saying. _Dead men tell no tales,_ right?"

"…Indeed." Alfred said uneasily.

"But if you think you can work on my ship, I will gladly take you. You seem a good, strong lad. You left your family for ridiculous reasons. A man of freedom, are you not? Where did you plan on going in the end?"

"Ah… New England, I suppose."

"A wonderful choice. But sadly, not where we are heading yet." He flipped the dagger to the other side of the desk, within Alfred's reach. He carefully took it and held it loosely in his hand. "You can stay here or drown in the seas, Alfred. Your choice."

"What do you mean with staying here?"

"I don't like stowaways. It feels like someone takes advantage of me and my crew. You can become part of my crew and hope I will settle down in New England for a while, or you can try and swim back to England. We have been sailing for a day now, too."

A day? He'd been out that long? Perhaps they knocked him out. That would explain the bump. If he might have gotten close to waking up, they could've hit him to keep him unconscious.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Alfred asked bitterly. His good mood from the day earlier was completely crushed, but he held onto one hope. If he indeed stayed, and if they indeed went to New England, he could try to escape. "I'll stay."

"Good lad." Arthur said approvingly. "You know, we pirates use quite some seas. It would be hard to escape." As if he had read his mind. Alfred stared at the captain, before bursting out into laughter. It started bitter, soft, before it went more cheerful. He had best make this situation prettier than it was, now.

Arthur stared at him with confusion. "I am glad to see you think this is so funny. But I would be more happy to see you get to work." He said, while he stood up and walked back towards the deck. Alfred followed him, still chuckling.

"William. Show him around would you?" Arthur asked a slightly dark-skinned guy. The guy, William, looked at him before back at his captain, shrugging. The captain nodded, pleased, and dismissed Alfred when he tried to get his attention again. Alfred frowned and watched Arthur disappearing to the steer wheel, before looking back at the William.

William noticed Alfred's slightly panicked look, and smirked, nodding at some buckets. "Get to scrubbing, landlubber."

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><p><span>-Yes, I know Davy Jones wasn't mentioned in books until 1726… yeah, exactly, not in <span>_BOOKS._ Why the hell wouldn't pirates be able to refer to him earlier? Not like anyone cared about pirates enough to write down what they used as slangs.

- Parley was invented in the High Middle Ages. The root of the word is Parler which is French for speaking, hence the frog comment.

- Virginia was an English colony from 1607-1776, and Connecticut was an English colony from 1636-1776

**R&R! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was glad the story interested some people! Thank you for your reviews, fav's and alerts! Please leave a review to when you fave or alert, it's hardly any trouble after that, right ? =D**

**Also, I hope Alfred won't be too OOC, but my reason for making him less energetic... well, the times weren't appropiate for that. If he was the silly, hyperactive burger loving guy he was now then he appeared to be in the anime, he would most likely never see the age of eighteen. Therefore, I made him a little more calm, but still with his random grins, cheerful thoughts and behaviour, and his hero-complex.**  
><strong>As for Arthur, he will warm up to Alfred later on, but I will try to maintain his personality, quickly irritated, scowling most of t<strong>  
><strong>he times.. you know them. I hope I'll do a good job!<strong>

**Chapter 2**

Alfred leaned on his mop and stared ahead of himself, at the dark grey-blue waters in front of him. His gaze almost immediately changed course to the captain at the steer.

He was _such _a stuck-up bastard. Couldn't handle a joke or anything. Arthur himself would only crack jokes if he was in a sinister mood.

His guide for the week, William, the first mate, had easily told him just what he had to do and Alfred could say it wasn't really what he expected. When he played pirate with Matthew, they were both mighty and brave pirates, battling each other…

But these pirates did nothing. They cleaned, they climbed on the masts, they talked, they did things in the weaponry and in the storage rooms, they discussed maps… He had expected a little more… roughness?

Well, he shouldn't say that either. He'd experienced enough roughness from the crew, because he had to sleep in their midst. His hammock was safe, fortunately, but he was also told the newbies received all the bullying.

Alfred thought about that. When he was younger, he never let anyone push him around, until his brother asked him to please stop the fighting. But by then, everyone knew to back off and only the one with nice, cool intentions would hang out with them.

So why was he any different right now? The main reason was that he was incredibly tired. They worked him to the bone, and he wasn't used to it, if he had to be honest. But! Nothing to be upset about! He'd get some nice muscles and that would suit a hero like him. Maybe he'd even look like one of those Greek gods.

"Hey newbie, you forgot a spot there, da?" One of the pirates, he had no idea what his name was and he honestly didn't care, teased, pushing him lightly to the spot.

"Nothing is wrong with it." Alfred said, continuing to simply stare at the captain. He noticed the captain had turned to look over his crew, and soon he would connect eyes with Alfred. Before that would happen, he'd look away, though.

"There is."

"So clean it yourself, spongy."

The pirate raised his eyebrows and gave Alfred a rough push. Alfred, not prepared, stumbled back and hit the rails quite harshly. He blinked and glared.

"If you don't clean it now, I'll make sure you lick-" He never got to finish the sentence as Alfred's fist rammed against his cheek. The man sputtered indignantly as he stumbled backwards, before he grabbed Alfred by the collar and hit his stomach.

Easily falling into the routine of wrestling, Alfred grinned and punched him in his face again, also kicking him in the gut. They both were sent tumbling, and some pirates around them started snickering and betting on some, while William sighed in disapproval.

The cheering for either Alfred or Ivan (that's how everyone called him) stopped abruptly as a gunshot was fired and both men looked up in surprise, to see Arthur glowering down at them from his spot at the steer.

"Ye heard it boys, get back to work." William said, pulling them both up again. Alfred snarled at Ivan and Ivan in turn smiled at him, promises of pain awaiting. Ivan took the first step and left, easily removing himself out of Alfred's sight, and some of the crew went back to what they were doing.

"Damn." He whispered under his breath. William slapped him harsh across his back and laughed.

"Don't take it seriously, lad. We're only having fun."

"Take your fun elsewhere or I'll make sure any of you will never experience fun." He threatened, glaring around to the people still listening. "And if that went past your tiny little heads, it means I'll cut off your-"

"Jones! My quarters, now."

Alfred snapped his mouth shut and glared at the captain. Yes, he has had it. Absolutely. Right now, he thought he would be better of trying to swim to some awful dock than to stay with these boarfaces.

It was only when he arrived in his captain's quarters, that he noticed how big the room suddenly was. It hadn't seemed so big when he was here six days ago, but now it seemed like a whole dining room. The thought occurred to him as soon as Arthur threw him a sword, and held his own against his throat.

"Sir?" Alfred asked quietly, holding the sword without much expertise.

"If you manage to get one cut on me, I'll release you at the nearest dock tonight." Arthur said almost boringly, as if it was a trained experience. It didn't come through Alfred for a while before he understood. It was his chance out! Completely forgetting that this was _Arthur fucking Kirkland, _Alfred grinned widely.

"Finally." He said. "I won't go easy on ya."

This brought out an unexpected reaction, and Arthur barked in laughter. "I do hope not." He replied with a smirk, taking two steps back.

Alfred didn't give the captain any time, code be damned, and lunged forward, swinging his sword around madly. He didn't even care that Arthur dodged them all, some easier than the other, and instead took pleasure in the concentrated (yet amused) face of his captain. At least he had to concentrate, that's something.

He refused to look at his feet like he would during a dance, and instead tried to circle the captain instead of the other way around. It would keep him in advantage. Pushing him into a corner would be a good idea, but when that happened Arthur would feel obliged to strike, which he didn't do right now.

Eventually, tiring a little, Alfred gave up on half-assed strategies and just pushed all of his frustration in his strikes, trying to win by force alone. _This _seemed to catch the captain off guard, and he took one stumble back before pushing the offending sword back with his own.

His green eyes shone brighter by the second and Alfred grinned, forcing another few of those blows on him. Arthur had to duck for one, and Alfred figured that his captain might be sly, stealthy and strong too, but he couldn't have the same physical strength Alfred had. He wasn't as strong as some of the pirates here, but he was a lot bigger than Arthur nonetheless.

A nagging voice in the back of his mind told him he shouldn't take this for granted, because if he could win this easily then there was _no way _that Arthur was still such a famous captain. The manner Arthur ducked out of the way or tried to disorientate him by (softly) hitting some spots, told him enough of that.

He was close to giving up from exhaustion, not knowing how many time has passed, when Arthur eventually attacked, reminding Alfred he was a goddamn pirate.

He breathed heavily, the gun's end moving with his every breath. He smiled and lowered his sword; Arthur raised his slightly. He wasn't even panting.

"That is hardly fair."

"Life isn't fair, Jones."

Arthur pushed Alfred with the gun, making him take a step backwards, before putting both his weapons away and turning his back on him. Alfred frowned at the dangerous move, but decided he had lost, and carefully lied the sword down on the ground.

"Keep it. You might need it one day. The sheath is against the wall." Arthur said, waving his hand in the air. He sat down at his desk and grabbed a bottle out of one of the drawers, filling a glass with its dark brown liquid.

"I hope you enjoyed that fight, because you did not get any cut on me at all." Arthur said, twirling the glass in his hand a little and gazing at Alfred over the rim of the glass with watchful eyes.

Alfred figured as much, and shrugged. "If I had landed a scratch on you, I doubt I would live to tell." He replied, smiling. He was getting cheerful again, and didn't mind it at all. He felt better if he was cheerful, anyway.

"Very observant. I trust you not to harass my men from now?"

"What? That idiot started it! They've all been pushing me around and normally I'm a pretty nice guy, but a man can only handle so much before they snap! I mean, damn, that spongy really had it coming, and if any-"

"Yes, Jones, you made your point quite clear. Don't worry, I think you made quite the impression." Arthur replied, almost bored. He took a few sips and leaned back against the chair, closing his eyes. Alfred stared at him, wondering if he had to leave or not.

Deciding he didn't really want to go back onto the deck (because he would be forced to clean or something), he dropped himself in one of the two chairs on the opposite of Arthur's desk. Arthur made no movement that implied he made the wrong choice, so he sat back as well.

"Did you know that Davy Jones is a nickname for a devil, saint or god of the seas? You share his last name. I wonder what that would make you."

"Not a god of the seas, I suppose."

Arthur chuckled lowly. "I suppose not. Have you ever been anywhere else than England?"

"Nay."

"It seems quite a big step you have taken then. I know the Pirate Round is not in its favor these years, but I do long to sail across it once. England might be the last place I would want to return to."

"I have no desire to return to England, if I must be honest."

"You feel no commitment to your family and friends?" Alfred shifted in his seat and slowly shook his head, not sure of the answer himself. He would love to see them again, but he had decided it would be better if he didn't. Only if he was near, but he was not going to make exceptions. By then, they would have accepted his death. "Interesting." Was all Arthur said and Alfred wondered about the familiarity of the situation.

"You speak quite well for a pirate." Alfred asked softly, wondering if he was able to ask questions as well. Arthur was silent and observed him closely, but he did not look angry or irritated.

"I am quite fond of our language, really. I try not to be influenced by my crew." He said grimly, and Alfred cracked a smile. "But, if you might want to know, my loyalty does not lie with the Navy or the monarchy. I do not care about trivial things such as the current politics."

"You seem like you would…" Alfred muttered under his breath, before wondering why he ever would have wanted to say that out loud. He coughed when Arthur gave him a suspicious glare and smiled brightly at him.

"Might I ask why you are so… happy all the time? Your situation isn't one to laugh at." Arthur inquired, almost curiously, and Alfred only grinned wider.

"Oh, I like to think of this as one big adventure. Perhaps I'll turn out to be some sort of hero too! Even though I'm doomed to be a pirate, that doesn't mean I have to be a bad man! No worries here."

"A hero? What are you, a boy?" A thought struck him and he smirked. "How old are you anyway?"

"Almost eighteen years old. And you?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and Alfred smiled sheepishly, silently apologizing for it. Fortunately for him, Arthur was in a good mood and let it slip.

"What is a bad man in your eyes, Jones? Someone who steals, kills, rapes?"

"Amongst others. Betrayal and abandoning isn't good as well."

"But did you not abandon your family?" Arthur cleverly replied, and Alfred's words caught in his throat. His eyes averted the burning green eyes of his captain, frustrating and looking for a proper answer, when Arthur chuckled. "Why on earth do you think you would be a good pirate? A pirate steals, kills. They might rape, that depends on the occasion, I suppose. We do betray, and we do abandon if it means we could escape."

Alfred slumped back in his seat. His captain had a point. They would steal gold and treasures, they would kill people who'd oppose, there were idiots who raped when needy. They did leave and betray supposed friends when the Navy would arrive and only one could escape.

"I like to believe I won't do those things. The rape, betrayal and abandoning." He settled on responding. He couldn't get away with stealing and killing. He couldn't even think about killing, but he knew he would have to if someone else wanted to kill him.

"It seems we agree on at least one thing." Arthur said lowly, almost too soft to hear, but Alfred caught it and looked at him with surprised eyes. Then he grinned widely.

"I knew there was a softie behind that big red old coat of yours."

Oops. Alfred regretted it the moment he said it, and leaned back in the chair a little, as to create a little more distance. Green eyes locked onto his blue ones with that familiar fire in them, urging the owner of the eyes to fight, and his shoulders tensed when he noticed his captain unfolding his hands.

But he took of his hat and placed it on the desk, before starting to laugh quietly. "You have guts, Jones, accusing me of owning an _old_ coat." He said teasingly. "And I can assure you there is nothing soft about me. I just do not like to deal with problems, so I don't make plans to cause them."

Alfred shrugged, it was all the same to him, and he relaxed slightly at the captain's amused gaze. Now that he looked a little better, Arthur seemed rather young, but he was sure the captain was older than him. He would probably be in his twenties, judging by his smooth skin and shiny hair. He once again caught him staring at the eyebrows and bit his lip, forcing to stare back into the captain's eyes.

"-now, Jones."

"What?" Alfred asked, blinking and getting out of his daydreaming. His captain once smirking face had gone serious and stoic, and he looked at him almost in an almost bored manner.

"I said it would be time for you to leave now. Do not make me repeat myself again."

Alfred hurriedly stood up and nodded, turning around and walking to the exit. He turned around once he was at the door and smiled, looking at the blonde man behind him. Arthur had turned the chair around and was looking out of the window, his head resting gently on his hand.

"Thank you, captain. You're not so bad."

Delightfully, Alfred watched his captain tense horrible and just as he was about to turn around and snap at him to leave, he left the room and closed the door behind him, chuckling and fleeing to the deck quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>No explanations, were they needed? I hope not.. xD Nothing historical discussed in this chapter.<strong>

**R&R! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, thank you so much for your reviews, alerts and fav's! They literally help to brighten my day x] Here's the new chapter, and I hope you like it! I also hope I explained enough things (at the bottom). **

**Chapter 3**

What Arthur had said had been true; the following days were a lot easier on Alfred than before. The crew almost seemed to respect him (_almost_), and stopped their antics.

He wasn't pushed out of his hammock anymore when he slept in too long, but they would simply shout at him. They wouldn't trip him when he passed by them anymore, and some even helped along when he had to move things or tighten ropes.

One of them, a pirate named Reggie, had even offered him his old gun and some bullets, also explaining him how to clean it and how to handle it.

Apparently, after they left England, they decided to stop on the docks of Spain and restock on supplies before they would continue to Africa. He was told they would stock supplies and stay there for a while, before they would go to South-America, to the Caribbean, and eventually to New-England. Then they would go to the Madeira Islands and back to England. The whole voyage should take about three to four years, if they were lucky.

As soon as they docked at La Coruña, Alfred noticed other painfully obvious pirate ships and looked at them curiously. A few seconds later, Arthur joined him by the rails and noticed the same ships.

He scanned over them almost searchingly, and when he did he suddenly tensed. Alfred looked at him to see his face got stuck in a hateful scowl. Following his gaze, he was looking at a large ship, red and yellow paintings on it, like.. the Spanish flag. That probably meant it was a Spanish pirate ship.

He looked up at their flag, but they didn't change it for a supply ship's flag. This island was known for its piracy, and therefore none of the pirates felt the need to take precaution.

Arthur kept a very close eye on the ship, he noticed, and he looked at the people on the ship. The ship was a fair distance away so he couldn't make it out properly, but they didn't seem to have a bigger crew. Still, the ship brought out a reaction from his captain and Alfred leaned on the railings casually.

"Someone you know?"

"Unfortunately." Arthur all but sneered lowly, before he turned and walked to the plank that connected the ship with the land. He was still tense, as he looked down, and Alfred leaned over the rails slightly to see what he was looking at.

Down, on the land, close by their plank, stood a tall, brown haired man. Like Arthur, he had a red coat draped on his shoulders, but unlike Arthur's bright, obnoxious red, his was a more duller, more in the direction of a red-brown color. There were dull yellow linings on the coat, and he had a dark blue hat, also with feathers. He looked over at his captain again. His was obviously a little more flamboyant, with some golden chains on his shoulders and the large details at the sleeves.

Apparently all pirates made a big show out of their clothing. He looked over at the Spanish captain again and noticed with some amusement he also left the top halve of his shirt open, revealing a tanned chest. Show-off.

He pleasantly smiled at Arthur, and Alfred moved away slightly, relieved he hadn't been coughed staring. As soon as the captain turned to Arthur, he noticed the Spaniard had his arm thrown around a little brown haired boy, who now glared at him heatedly.

"_Buenos días_, Arthur." The Spaniard said politely, smiling. "¿_Cómo estás_?"

Alfred had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but figured it must be a greeting in Spanish. Arthur seemed to know exactly what it meant, and he merely glared back. "Pass along now, miscreant."

The Spaniard's eyebrows rose slightly, and he chuckled in favor of the boy next to him complaining in another language, and shrugged. "I will see you later, perhaps, _mi amigo_?" He directed back to Arthur, and by the looks of it, it looked more like an invitation than a simple goodbye.

"Scoundrel." Arthur muttered under his breath, and turned around. He didn't spare the Spaniard one more glance as he disappeared into his quarters. Alfred frowned, looking back at the disappearing Spaniard.

"That's Antonio Fernández Carriedo, cap'n of the Scarlet Fiesta." Reggie offered after he dropped some crates close to Alfred. "An old rival of the cap'n."

"That seems an understatement." Alfred replied confusingly, and Reggie grinned.

"We're not sure if the cap'n _really _hates him, seeing they meet and discuss when the time comes. But he's fought him enough and spilt enough blood, he's not someone we should interact with."

"It seems they knew each other well."

"Most pirate cap'ns know each other too well for their likin'. Just stay clear of them, cap'n orders."

"Ah, but-"

"Care killed the cat." Arthur said coolly. Alfred turned around slightly and noticed his captain glaring him down threateningly, as if not to inquire anymore. Reggie cleared his throat, nodded, and left to get on with his work, when Alfred smiled brightly.

"But satisfaction saved it." He replied teasingly, and Reggie tensed, looking at the two with surprise.

Arthur's face remained impassive for a good five seconds, before the corner of his lips tugged upwards slightly. It could've been with malicious intent or not, but Alfred liked to think his joke worked and instead just grinned.

"Very well. Reggie, why don't you get William to organize the groups? We need one for supplies and one for watch; I couldn't care less what you are doing after that."

"Shift change in five hours, then?"

"Acceptable." Arthur nodded and Reggie was off to William, who shouted for the crew to come together. Alfred was about to move towards the group as well, and Arthur walked down the plank, into the town. He looked quite at ease, but Alfred could see the alertness in his posture.

He smiled and turned to William, who luckily put him into the guard group. He didn't feel like going into town yet, he wasn't in any party mood at all. Unfortunately for him, Ivan was put on the same group. The small group of ten had to wait around the ship and take watch for five hours, before they could go into town themselves.

"You seem quite friendly with the captain, _da_?"

"Drop dead." Alfred cheerfully replied and Ivan smiled back at him eerily. Fortunately for Alfred, Ivan was the plumber, so if he had to do those duties he would almost never see him. But, of course, not all beautiful things lasted long.

"Luckily the captain will soon realize what an idiot you are and replace you." Ivan said happily, as if he just got told something great. Alfred's eye twitched. "You only defile the captain and the crew, _da_?"

"You really have some screw loose in there, don't you?" Alfred sneered at him. Defile the captain? What did Ivan think Arthur was, an angel? Damn, Arthur probably defiled himself as soon as he decided to become a _bleeding pirate_. Just as the rest of the crew. Maybe he didn't know the meaning of the word.

"I just look after the captain and the crew." Ivan said with the same eerie smile. To anyone oblivious, it was a smile, but people could see the danger behind it. Or well, danger. He could take Ivan on any day, the Russian bastard.

"They don't need no looking after." Alfred muttered, glaring at Ivan before turning away from him. He certainly didn't felt the need to get into any fight, the bastard wasn't worth it.

"I am watching you, Alfred." Ivan said lowly, and Alfred scoffed.

"I don't need looking after either. Go jump in the ocean or something."

Ivan was silent at the comment before he giggled lightly, and he walked away slowly. Alfred made a face at him behind his back. Seriously, he didn't trust the guy one bit. He felt sorry for the three guys who were working with him mostly, they seemed pretty nice but Ivan probably corrupted them.

After six hours, people gradually walked back to the ship for the shift change, horribly late but at least they showed up. Alfred chose to get some more sleep instead of going into town again, and walked down to the hammocks, quickly finding his and dropping in it. A poor drunk bugger had taken the same decision and Alfred ignored him.

He fell asleep eventually, and woke up after an unknown period of time. He blinked lazily and rolled over, deciding it was too early still. His adolescent instincts told him it was perhaps about two or three hours after midnight. Even _they _didn't need to wake up that early.

After a while he noticed the reason why he woke up in the first place. There was shuffling in the area, almost as if someone was searching. He lied still, hoping it wasn't an intruder who got past the guards. When he ruled it out, he hoped it wasn't Ivan looking for trouble. Deciding Ivan wouldn't be loud enough to hear (he had to at least give him that), he ruled it out as well.

When he looked up in confusion as to who it would be (perhaps more pirates went to bed now), he noticed the room was occupied by more sleeping pirates and he frowned. He had slept through that perfectly.

He blinked a little more when he realized the shuffling wasn't from in the same area, but from above, on deck. He smiled a little, the source was strange and that was why he woke from it. The noise of his crewmembers going to bed, well, that had happened the entire time he was here. Guess his instincts got trained after all, even after roughly two weeks.

He stood up and stretched. Figuring that since he was awake now, he might offer to take watch in exchange of the watch next night. Once he was awake like this, it would be hard to fall asleep anyway.

Alfred maneuvered himself through the hammocks and slowly trudged up the stairs, still working on his limbs. He stopped when he heard a familiar voice.

"-are planning an attack."

Alfred frowned. He couldn't recognize the voice right now, so it wasn't one of the four he knew best. He settled against the wall and listened.

"Should we tell the cap'n?"

"Hell no! Ye know they promised to let us go, why run? The navy will get us anyway." There was a thoughtful hum and Alfred frowned. An attack from the Navy? Why would they plan an attack? Either way, he had to tell Arthur.

He made a face at the thought of waking his captain up. No doubt he'll be _very _pissed. But he didn't know when this so called attack would be. What if it was before sunrise? His captain would also be _very _pissed if he hadn't alerted him.

The two men stumbled away and Alfred didn't think about them anymore, cursing himself before fleeing out and heading for the captain's quarters immediately. He began knocking on it furiously, as it was locked, and the two men weren't as far away as he thought.

"Hey! Jones! What'cha doin'?" One of them called, not pleasantly surprised. Alfred ignored them in favor of knocking on the door. Damn, open the door already, would ya?

"Jones, why don't we go and-"

The door opened abruptly and Arthur glowered at him with barely concealed anger and tiredness. "What in the world do you want, Jones?"

All three went quiet at the stare, before Alfred remembered why he was here. "Captain, I need to talk to you. _Now._"

"Cap'n, Jones is just hallucinating from lack of sleep, we'll just-"

"Get lost, bastards!" Alfred said, looking at them before looking back at Arthur. "Captain. It's _urgent._"

"Cap'n, seriously-"

"Shut up." Arthur sat, rubbing his temples. "Jones, can this not wait until morning?"

"Absolutely not." He replied, trying to convince his captain with words alone. Arthur looked at him, letting his gaze pass over the two others before rolling his eyes in irritation.

"Make it quick." He said, turning around and walking back into the room. Alfred walked in quickly, and noticed the two others wanted to follow him. He scoffed and turned around.

"_In private._" Alfred added in a low tone, slamming the door in their faces. Man, they didn't look pleased at all. Alfred hoped the captain would believe him, or he'd most likely have a fight later.

Alfred turned back to the room and noticed the desk was an absolute mess, a brown bottle lying on the ground, another one on the table. Arthur was rubbing his temples again and leant against the desk, shuffling some papers through each other.

"What is it?"

"I, uh, I overheard those two talking." Alfred started, looking at his captain nervously, but with a smile. Arthur didn't look all that intimidating with bed-hair, an open shirt revealing his thin and white chest, his sword thrown over a table nearby carelessly. He looked to his left and noticed a wide open door that revealed a bedroom. He wondered if he had been sleeping, or working on something, seeing both the desk and the large bed in the other room looked like they had been occupied.

"Yes, Jones?" Arthur asked after a while and Alfred's cheeks burned slightly in embarrassment. He had been checking his captain and the room out silently, forgetting the situation.

"Oh! Well, they said something about a planned attack by the navy. I didn't know if it was an attack at us, but they decided on not telling you, so I guess it is."

Arthur appeared a little more focused now, and he looked at him carefully. "Why would they not tell me?"

"I overheard them saying that _they _promised to let them go. They thought it was no use to tell you, escape, and get caught by the navy anyway." Alfred honestly replied, wondering if the captain would buy it. After all, those two had been here longer, and Alfred had only been here two weeks, why on earth would the captain trust him?

There was a silence as the captain studied him with bright green eyes, probably looking for a sign that said if he was lying or not. Alfred remained still, if somewhat tense, and looked right back at Arthur. He wasn't afraid of him, well, he was, but not really. That didn't make sense.

"Go back to your hammock, Jones." Arthur eventually said, and he turned around to organize the papers he had just shuffled.

Alfred frowned. "What? You don't believe me? I'm telling the truth! Why would I lie about this, that is illogical!" When Arthur didn't respond, Alfred freaked out. He was on this _blasted _ship, so if it would get attacked, he would be one of the victims, damn it! Why didn't Arthur believe him? Before he knew what he was doing, he stepped forward and grabbed Arthur's shoulder.

He had his back against the surface of the desk so fast he couldn't even blink, and he made a surprised choking noise at the hand clamping down on his throat. The desk made a protesting creak, not agreeing to Alfred's weight.

Arthur stared down at him with an angry scowl. "Do not touch me without my permission." Arthur said lowly, pressing down on his throat a little more after every two words.

"S-s-sorr-y." Alfred choked out, his hands grabbing the wrist of his captain, trying to get him off. Arthur wasn't pleased by that at all, but he pressed once more before abruptly letting go, as if he touched fire.

"Jones. Just because I give you a normal order, does not mean I am not taking what you said into consideration." He then continued icily. Alfred took a deep breath and blinked, quickly straightening up. Standing directly in front of the captain, he noticed he was a few inches bigger. He was broader and bigger, and he still knew the man could kill him in the matter of seconds. Perhaps not in a few years, but now, he could.

"Consideration? Captain, what I am saying must be true! It's a warning! What harm could be done if we leave earlier? Or at least prepare for a fight!" Alfred continued, taking a step back as to lessen the height difference.

Arthur suddenly smirked and shook his head. "Lad, you should know that if the navy does plan an attack, they would never attack while we are docked here. An attack might be planned, yes, but most likely an attack on open sea."

That seemed reasonable, after Alfred gave it another thought. He was suddenly embarrassed of his actions and bit his lip. Arthur had been a pirate for god knows who long, longer than him, of course he always took caution when there was a mention of an attack.

"I apo-"

"Leave it be, Jones." Arthur said dismissingly, waving a hand in the hair. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, untangling some locks. The locks fell on place again and Arthur dropped his arm, turning to his quarters. "I am surprised you told me. If the navy would capture us, and you would explain to them who you were, they would find your family to prove your innocence. You could have easily said we kidnapped you."

Alfred was surprised he hadn't even thought about that. As soon as he heard the news he had just rushed over to the captain to warn him. But even so – he wouldn't have done that. His meaning was to _get away _from his home, not to return to it.

Arthur looked at him oddly when he remained silent, obviously expecting a comeback. Alfred shrugged and gave him a tiny grin. The captain looked at him silently, scanning him over. Or at least that's how it felt to Alfred. He noticed Arthur could often look at someone for a very long time, as if he were looking for something. Also, he often stared off into space, even though he was as alert as ever. Those times it seemed he was seeing things that weren't there.

"Anyway, Jones, go back to your hammock." Arthur eventually said, walking to the door to enter deck himself. Alfred followed him and was disgusted to see the two men actually waited for them to finish. They looked angry at Alfred, but quickly regained postures at the sight of the captain.

"Men. Why don't you take watch for the remainder of the night?" Arthur ordered, and Alfred knew it wasn't in sympathy for the others that were taking watch. The men would obviously try and pick a fight with Alfred once the captain left, and now Arthur gave him a chance to return to his hammock without much trouble.

The men groaned but set out to release the others from their job. Alfred started down the stairs, turning around slightly to look at his captain. Arthur was keeping a watchful eye on the two men, who hauled themselves up on the fo'c's'cle. He smiled and within moments he was in his hammock, finding sleep with some difficulty.

* * *

><p><em>¿Cómo estás? – How are you?<em>

- Fo'c's'cle - Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters

The proverb was originally "Care killed the cat", with Care meaning worry or sorrow. Curiosity killed the cat hadn't been used up until 1873 in James Allan Mair's compendium.  
>I know "Satisfaction brought it back" wasn't there then in books and stuff (Stephen King might've been the first?), but I like to think Alfred was just clever with words against his old dear captain and, because he wanted to know, thought that the news would satisfy him and thus bring him back from a dangerous situation. But because Alfred isn't a genius, I altered the sentence to "Satisfaction saved it."<p>

**R&R! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: Lovino has a potty italian mouth x]**

**Chapter 4**

The remainder of the days they were docked at La Coruña, were spent mostly with the crew heading out and getting absolutely wasted. Obviously that would not be all they did – well, the crew did – but Alfred noticed his captain and first mate heading out quite different directions. They even boarded another ship at one point, and figured they must be discussing matters with other captains.

Alfred decided there was nothing special about the town, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to venture deeper into the country to see more things.

After he had done his 'chores' (Reggie loved to call him a boy who has to do his chores), Alfred walked along the harbor, looking at the ships and trying to stay clear from unwanted attention. He had politely flirted with some ladies going from house to house, passing by the harbor, and helped an old man carry a heavy box, but after that, there were no more good deeds he could perform.

He sighed and sat down on a lonely looking crate, staring ahead of him. A part of him wished they could get going again, because life sure was more exciting on the sea. Perhaps, if he got used to the pirate life, he too would long for land, but he had enough of it now.

"_Bastardo perversa! Come ti permetti di mentire a me_! _Vaffanculo!__"_ A small brunette rounded a corner, fussing and pulling at his hair, groaning irritatingly. Alfred looked at him curiously as he passed him, obviously on his way to a ship. It wasn't until the boy turned around that he recognized him as the boy with Antonio Carriedo.

"_Cosa stai guardando a_?"

Alfred frowned, Spanish wasn't his best language – as in, he knew no word. He figured he knew 'si', but that's about it. "Sorry buddy, I don't speak Spanish."

The boy frowned. "It was Italian, _idiota_. Who are you, eh?"

"None of your business." He had been told to stay clear of the crew of the Scarlet Fiesta, so he decided on doing so.

"Aren't you one of… you belong to _il bastardo inglese_ !" Inglese, that must be English. And he knew the word bastard.

"Shut up." Alfred growled. "Don't let me get started on your captain." That was just bluff, because he knew absolutely nothing about Carriedo. Oh well, according to his crew and captain, he was a horrible man.

To his surprise, the boy chuckled. "No, let's not, I'd rather forget about that _testa di merda_." He looked at the direction he came from and glared childishly.

"You hate him? Why are you with him?"

"_Stai zitto! _I never said that. He's just annoying, the_ bastardo pomodoro_." The Italian kept cursing in his language, so Alfred had absolutely no idea what he was saying, but he ignored it. He kind of expected the brunette to continue on now, but he was still looking at him and the direction he came from nervously.

"Has your crew met up with _capitano_ Beilschmidt yet?" He asked quietly, and Alfred cocked his head. He didn't know any Beilschmidt, so he guessed not… but Arthur and William probably did. He shrugged.

"I have no idea. Perhaps the captain has. Why?"

"Oh, _niente_." He shuffled around for a while before he groaned out in displeasure and took a step forward. "Look, English _bastardo_." He should be more original with his insults. "Could you…_sai_, tell me if you did?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Just because! I need to see him and my _capitano_ won't let me, _il egoista_. You only need to tell me where he is. _Capiche_?"

Alfred sighed and leaned forward slightly, wondering if he would be spotted. It couldn't be bad to talk with a little thing like this, right? How much harm could it do? "Look mate, I would, but I don't think I'd meet up with them. If they are pirates, they are probably docking here too."

"_Sì_, I know! But the _capitano_ and… others, are staying in town. Not on their ship."

"Lovi! Lovi! ¿_Dónde estás_?" Alfred looked up at the foreign voice and the boy before him tensed.

"Just tell me if you know where he is. It's very _importante_! The _bastardo_ won't let me, so, _per favore_?"

Alfred frowned at the slightly panicked look and gave him an assuring smile. "Sure, kid. If I know anything about him, I'll be waiting here, all right? Just come and look for me when you have time."

The look of relief on the boy's face was enormous, and he grinned widely. Another good deed done, even if the boy was supposedly an enemy. "_Grazie_, _pirata inglese_." The boy muttered, before they were both interrupted.

"Ah Lovi! There you are!"

"It's Lovino, _bastardo_!"

Alfred tensed at the sight of Carriedo. Damn. He hoped he didn't recognize him as one of Arthur's men. Or that the supposed 'Lovino' didn't sell him out. It wouldn't be smart of him, because if he did, Alfred wouldn't help him with this Beilschmidt guy.

"¿_Qué_? Who is this?"

Lovino and Alfred locked eyes and he tried to intimidate him with a warning glare. He supposed it wasn't needed because the boy _really _wanted his help, but he did it anyway. Lovino shrugged carelessly. "Some useless sailor." He replied, keeping a boring façade, and Alfred tried not to smile in appreciation.

Carriedo looked at him once more before ignoring him completely and grabbing Lovino at his waist. The brunette spluttered and tried to push him away, cursing at him in Italian, before the Spaniard happily dragged him to his ship and disappeared out of Alfred's sight.

Phew. That went well. He stood up and rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the tenseness, and started walking back to their ship.

Tomorrow would be there last day. They had to leave in the very early morning the day after, so he figured that if he'd wanted to go into town he'd better do it today. He wasn't a morning person after all. And he might run into this Beilschmidt guy. Promising himself not to actually search for him, Alfred set out into town, it's night life already starting.

After boring himself in a tavern or two, he took a left in the alleyway and continued in a different street. He picked up that the town was known for many, enjoyable festivals, but he picked the wrong date. Just his luck.

Just as he debated he should return to the ship, he found Tim, a crewmate, along with some others he hadn't really gotten to know. He was dragged into a tavern again and decided that he might as well socialize with them and have fun, seeing he was going to be with them for an awful long time.

They were in the midst of discussing old adventures of them when a few women dragged a few of their men with them, that Alfred furrowed his brows. He hoped they wouldn't try and get him, because he was absolutely not in the mood for it.

As it were, he had politely declined two girls (really, they looked too young to be here), and the remaining men went on with the stories.

"So! There I was, and all I c'uld see were bluddy natives! They were yellin' and rollin' their tongues at me and I shwear, I shit my pants at how their wom'n looked!" He said, his voice slurry because of the alcohol taking effect. "They captur'd me and tied me to one of tha trees!"

"This story again? Man, it's a big lie." He heard someone faintly say and looked at someone who rejoined the group once again, looking disgustingly pleased.

"Shut yer trap, scumbag. Being tha brave man I was," There was another cough. "I tried to get them to fight me. They didn't understand me one bit, poor bastards. Seeing no other way, I noticed tha roughness of tha tree. I rubbed mah wrists against them until they bled, but tha ropes cut and I was free! They didn't notice me however, so I ran for mah dear life. I eventually found a small fisher's village who told me those natives weren't real! I was captur'd by a legend, they said!"

"A big lie, John! Ye're full of shit!"

"It's true I tell ya!" John said with conviction, before he showed his wrists. "Look, here are tha cuts!"

"Ha ha!" Someone laughed, and he thought his name was Jack, but he wasn't sure. "Ye probably cut yer own wrists to fool us!"

There was a scoff. "Then don't believe me, but I tell ye, when they come fer ya, I won't be there to help ya!"

"You wouldn't be there anyways!" The group dispersed into laughter, Alfred joining joyfully. It was just playful banter, nothing harmless. John quickly gave up trying to convince the others and instead just gulped down his drink really fast, slamming it on the table and demanding another.

"What about ye, Jones? Tell us about yer homey life!"

Alfred chuckled. "Guys, guys, my life was _boring. _Really, I have nothing to tell you, nothing at all!"

"Nonsense, lad!" John said, slapping him on the back friendly. "Everyone has stories! And everyone has had a borin' family life! Some just escaped the doom earlier!" The group laughed again and Alfred nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

He eventually got forced into telling a story where he and Matthew got lost, while they were really just on the land of a neighbor. He felt it was incredibly boring, but they seemed to be interested, so he was satisfied with it. They even laughed at the clue and all, but Alfred figured they were just way too drunk to care.

After this, he slowly slid away from the group. The movement went unnoticed and he grinned, leaving quickly. Once outside, he shivered slightly. The temperature here differed from the packed, stuffy tavern, but it wasn't cold either.

He decided he might as well go back to the ship. He felt tired, and he also felt like he had seen enough of the town to decide it wasn't all that much fun. And… the story made him think of his family, which made his a bit sad.

How are they be faring right now? Were they all right? Did they still grief over him, had a funeral for him even though his body wasn't present? Did they search for him, involved some authorities? He hoped not. The sooner they got over the fact he wasn't alive, the better.

He hoped Mattie and Albert were all right as well. He had counted on Mattie to take care of Albert once he was gone. Albert had been incredibly dependent on Alfred, seeing they looked alike so much. He hoped Matthew would spend more time with Albert, now that they would both suddenly lack an older brother.

Alfred briefly wondered about the family he was supposed to marry into. Would they help his family or did they just ditch them in favor of another, alive boy? Still, he was glad the girl now got a chance to marry someone she liked, maybe even loved.

"Stop following me around, frog." Alfred looked up at the familiar voice of his captain, and smiled. He was still out here and celebrating then. He figured if he was pirate for a while longer, he would stay up and party longer too. But now he just felt drained, emotionally and physically.

"_Mon cher!_ Don't be so cruel, it has been too long! I missed you!" A playful, unfamiliar voice, replied to the British man and Alfred looked away from his captain to see another man following him.

Judging by his attire he was undoubtedly a captain, seeing how these captains liked to show off with their clothing. He had a light green coat draped on his shoulders, decorated with a gold that was closer to dark yellow in the night. On his long, tied back hair perched a black hat with decorations unlike Arthur's. His hat was adorned with ruches and silk. He was also apparently very comfortable with being close to Arthur, he noticed gloomily.

"I don't care. Go hop along to some whores to entertain yourself with and leave me be."

"But you are trying to find Beilschmidt, _oui_? I know where he is!"

"Of course you would." Arthur replied, turning around to face the other man. "Then tell me where he is."

"Ah, Arthur, you are one of _mes amis_, but to fight on such a wonderful night-"

"I don't want to fight with him, idiot. I want to talk to him..." At the blonde man's curious look, Arthur stopped and smirked. "So tell me where he is."

"Ah, not fair! I will tell you, if I can come with you."

"Where you go or not is not my business, frog, as long as you are not bothering me." Frog? Cute nickname. Alfred grinned at the insults Arthur kept throwing around at the blonde man, who was unfazed by it.

But he heard something of more importance. He was going to see Beilschmidt, he heard. It would be dangerous to follow his captain around like a spy, but… he felt obliged after that talk with Lovino. He cursed himself for his heroic personality, and silently fell in step, some paces behind his captain. He kept his head down, so that if Arthur would look around, he might not see him immediately.

He was close enough to hear some of the conversations the two men were having, and decided to tune it for the fun of it.

"Did you hear of Beilschmidt's latest raid?"

"The raid of an entire city because he lost his pet bird? Yes."

"_Non_, not that one. The younger Beilschmidt." Alfred suddenly recognized the man had a French accent. He hung his head and smiled. Arthur sure knew lots of people, and he wondered which one of them he considered friends. Knowing him, probably none.

"The little brother took himself a little Italian." At this, Alfred paid more attention. Lovino was Italian too, and he really wanted to see Beilschmidt… Did this Beilschmidt have one of his friends? A family member? Most likely. "Familiar, _non?_ He looks like Antonio's pet."

Family member, definitely. Arthur didn't respond to him, but the Frenchman continued anyway. "Antonio was so very angry at him."

"I can imagine, he must be frightened to lose his possession."

Eventually they were led to a more quiet part of the area, and Alfred followed groups to mingle with them, in order not to be spotted, when the blonde man stopped in front of a certain tavern.

"I just hope Antonio is not here." He said unsurely, and Arthur scowled.

"If he is, I might just have to break that promise. Why don't you go and check? I have no need for trouble tonight." He dismissed the other who pouted at him, but clearly had the same idea. He disappeared into the building and Arthur looked at the people impassively.

Alfred should leave now. He knew the tavern, he could point it out… Lovino could handle the rest himself. But as he wanted to turn back and leave, he saw Arthur looking his way. There was a faint look of recognition on his face before Arthur's lips tugged upwards.

Knowing he was caught, Alfred hung his shoulders and walked forward to his captain, keeping his head down.

"This part of town is not particularly interesting, Jones." Arthur remarked, and Alfred smiled carefully.

"Yeah, but I was bored. Decided to wander around a little."

"Don't stray off too far. As every town, this one has it's… faults."

Was that a warning? Concern, for him? Alfred suddenly smiled a little more playfully. "Was that concern I heard there, captain?"

Arthur frowned. "It was not. Tell me, Alfred, how are your legs?" Oh, that was low. Alfred faked a glare and moved his right leg a little. When he first got to land, he immediately fell on his face again, to the great amusement of his crew. He had been used to the rocking of the sea, and the solid ground didn't provide him with the same sensation.

"What, you never had that? I doubt it." He rudely said back and Arthur gazed at him with amusement.

"We all experience it, Jones. Some just handle it better. If you were to be in need of assistance next time, I would recommend you not to ask for it." He said almost sweetly, and Alfred cocked an eyebrow. _Really _now.

"Oh, pardon if I fall and drag you down with me then, _Captain._"

"I was not talking about me, Jones. The crew will most likely bully you for it. And if you were to drag me down, it would be no matter. You will just be in charge of buying me a new coat. Which, aren't cheap."

Alfred scoffed and grinned at his captain's teasing expression. "Of course captain, we wouldn't want you to miss one of your coats. They do sustain your big ego after all." He regretted it partly after he said it, but his captain only raised his eyebrows. A movement hard to go unnoticed and he bit his lip, trying not to comment on them. Damn, they were distracting.

"You surprise me at times." Arthur casually said. "Mind that you can only cross so many boundaries."

There was nothing threatening about it, just a small promise and warning, and Alfred nodded.

"So what's up with you and the Spanish git?"

"This is one of those boundaries." Arthur said lowly, narrowing his eyes. Wondering if his captain would really punish him or whatever for something like this with so many people around (Yes. Yes he would.), Alfred smiled, noticing that his captain's enormous eyebrows furrowed together when he was eyeing him so closely. It kind of made him look like an angry, innocent, yet adorable teen.

Sensing this was going the wrong way (His captain, adorable? Who was he kidding?), he shook his head and found that Arthur had turned from him. The blonde man from before came back, looking happy as ever.

Arthur glared at him, but the man didn't falter, and instead turned to Alfred. "I did not know you had a new mate! _Bonjour_, my name is Francis Bonnefoy."

"Alfred Jones."

" Why don't you join my crew?"

There was a click of a gun's safety being unlocked, and Arthur looked at Francis daringly. Francis raised his hands and pouted.

"Nothing could hold my attention longer than you, _mon ami_. I'll leave him alone."

"I am not your friend, please refrain from calling me that." He said tiredly, as if he had said it before.

"_Oui, oui_. Antonio is not here, let's go. Are you coming too, Alfred?"

Alfred looked at his captain. He didn't seem to have any problems with it, but Alfred didn't think he would like to meet another crazy pirate captain. He smiled.

"No thanks. I'll be at the ship."

Arthur looked at him as Francis shrugged and entered the building again. "Jones," He called out as Alfred turned around and walked away. "Don't stray."

"Care killed the cat, captain." Alfred said back teasingly, and he couldn't ignore the mixed look on his captain's face, a mix between anger and amusement. He laughed and waved, before stalking off.

He passed the Spaniard's ship as he walked back to his own, and he noticed the brunette hanging off the railing with a board look. He smiled and looked ahead of himself.

"Blowin' Bartie." He said softly, albeit loudly enough. The Italian shot up in surprise, before understanding. Alfred arrived at his ship soon after, happy to see his hammock and falling asleep quickly.

* * *

><p>Cosa stai guardando - What are you looking at?<br>Stai zitto – Shut up!  
>Pomodoro bastardo – tomato bastard<br>Niente – nothing  
><span>Vaffanculo<span> – Fuck you  
>Testa di merda – shithead<p>

¿Dónde estás? – where are you?

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next day, everyone was woken early because they would set sail that day. Alfred, who usually pleaded for a few minutes more, found himself in a situation where he had to get ready in a speed unknown. Apparently his mates thought it funny to let him sleep in _today._

He stumbled onto the desk as he pulled his left boot on, and eventually tripped over his other foot. There was a loud thud and he groaned, rolling over with a pout. Some snorted and laughed at him, but unlike usually there wasn't any bullying and Alfred, not taking it for granted, scrambled up and dusted himself off.

He stretched lazily once he noticed no one trying to get him to do something and smiled brightly as he felt the sun warming his body slowly. He decided he would first escape to the galley to grab some breakfast. He wouldn't be good without any food in him anyway.

On his way to the galley he randomly looked at the docks next to the ship and stilled his movements when his eyes rested on a brunette hiding behind some crates. He squinted and after his eyes focused on the figure, he recognized it as the little Italian from the day before. Lovino saw him as well and Alfred knew he had to come over.

He frowned and his stomach grumbled, but it would be rude to just walk away and let him wait. Besides, Lovino probably only wanted to thank him or whatever. Looking around, Alfred decided he could afford the small leave. Most crewmembers were either grabbing something to eat, or working around the decks. No one would notice.

He smiled brightly and waved a little as he walked down the plank and jumped down on the ground, casually walking over to the Italian.

"Lovino! What's up?" He asked cheerfully and Lovino scoffed.

"I wanted to… you know."

Alfred cocked his head and played dumb with a silly smile, but he _did _in fact know. It was more fun to tease him though and the brunette slowly got redder. Lovino looked at his feet and scowled angrily.

"_Bastardo inglese…_ I just… wanted to- I came to say- _Merda_! _Grazie mille_! There!" He looked up victoriously and Alfred tried to hold in a snicker.

"Please, I don't understand Italian…" He knew what it meant anyway and when Lovino punched his shoulder, he smiled playfully (he'd soothe the sore spot later).

Lovino opened his mouth to shoot another insult at him, when Alfred's instincts suddenly took a leap and he blinked. He felt this way when he was usually in trouble. He gulped – _god no_ – and looked at the ship. As he could have known, Arthur glared down at him, and began walking down the plank. Their gazes were locked and he felt a slight pang of fear – not the childish one, but the one that wondered what Arthur would think of him.

"Eh?"

Alfred looked back at Lovino when he pronounced his confusion and froze as he saw Antonio standing right behind Lovino. He towered over the little Italian and Alfred was almost eye on eye with him, but he couldn't even begin to compare the absolutely murderous look in the Spaniard's eyes.

Antonio offered a silly smirk, and Alfred wondered if he was in trouble with him too, when Antonio suddenly lashed out and punched him hard in his face. Taken by surprise, Alfred staggered back and fell down on his back.

Since he was on the ground and Antonio was not, Alfred felt the sudden childish fear. Antonio didn't seem like he was done with him despite Lovino's complaints. He scrambled back slightly but wasn't fast enough as Antonio's boot connected with his stomach harshly. Alfred coughed and clenched his eyes shut at the sudden pain.

This sucked. He would have no time to stand up, not with this pain and not with Antonio towering above him. He imagined Antonio would kick him again, when a shot rang in the air and things fell silent.

Alfred opened his eyes abruptly and Lovino gaped at his captain. He groaned in pain and sat up, tenderly holding his abdomen. Antonio glared past him fiercely and he noticed a red spot forming on Antonio's left arm, where the bullet either grazed or hit him.

"Don't you _dare._"

Alfred turned his head at the familiar British accent and almost let out his breath in relief when he saw Arthur standing behind him. He looked a lot bigger than he was right now, but Alfred couldn't give a damn. He struggled to stand up and once he did, he was glad they were close to some crates. Finding support on them, Alfred focused on the two captains.

"I thought I told you not to mess with my pirates." Arthur said lowly, and Antonio smirked at him, cocking his head to the right a little.

"Your _perro inútil _started the event, I would say." Arthur spared Alfred one glance, before focusing on the Spaniard again.

"I find it amusing to see you know your crew so well. Your brach asked for our aid." Arthur said mockingly and Antonio frowned lightly, looking at the Italian behind him. Lovino gaped at Arthur before shaking his head.

"Lovi, _regreso al barco_." The Spaniard ordered him fiercely, and Lovino glared at his captain.

"_Scusi? _What? No! The _bastardo _is lying! You have no right-"

"Go back right now, Lovino!" Antonio barked at him and Lovino, taken aback, glared fiercely at both Alfred and Arthur, huffing and turning around as he hurried back to the Scarlet Fiesta. Arthur was smirking at him with hateful amusement, and Antonio gritted his teeth.

"Keep your _puto _in line, Arthur." Antonio said dangerously, his hand on his gun and the other close to his sword. He couldn't get them both in time though, because Arthur still had his aimed on the other. Also, Arthur's crew was closer than Antonio's, which would work in their advantage. Arthur scoffed when he saw the movements.

"Don't tempt me, Antonio." Arthur said back, equally dangerous, as he flexed his fingers slightly. "I doubt your ship is repaired yet. I did remember you to be quite broke last time we met."

Antonio frowned and shrugged, crossing his arms. "My ship isn't a petty little boat like the English ones." He said back, but the insult hardly had any effect on his captain. "Where are you headed?"

"São Paulo de Loanda. And you?"

This turned into a silly conversation. Alfred frowned at the both of them. They conversed normally but their stances and expressions still held the same anger and hate for each other.

"Cape of Good Hope."

"Are you going to the East?" Arthur inquired, and it looked like mere curiosity, but Alfred wondered if he just wanted to confirm that they weren't going to the same way. Antonio shrugged again and a lopsided grin found his way on his face.

"¿_Quién sabe? _New England sounds a lot more attractive with you nearby after all. When were you planning sailing the Pirate round?"

"I don't think those seas are big enough for both of us, scumbag." Arthur sneered. "I was thinking on taking it on in about five years."

Antonio nodded and for a moment Alfred recognized something he had had himself in the past. What they had for each other hardly seemed hate… it was more some sort of rivalry. They knew each other too well to truly hate each other, and they conversed with each other on a civil level as well. Antonio suddenly looked back at Alfred, noticing he was still there, and scowled.

"I hereby warn you - _stay away_." Antonio said to him threateningly, and just as Alfred wanted to nod and assure him he would never be near them again, Arthur chuckled and pushed Alfred behind him, ignoring the way Alfred flinched.

"Get lost Antonio. I have no interest nor time for your petty little games."

Antonio, clearly not impressed, straightened up and took a step back. "_Adiós, mi amigo estúpido." _He simply said, before he took a long look at Alfred. He smirked and mouthed something he couldn't make out, before turning around and taking strong strides back to his ship.

Arthur barked at his crew to stop lingering around, and they hastily got back to work, before he turned around and eyed Alfred up. "Straighten up, idiot." Alfred quickly did as his captain said, ignoring the pain in his abdomen. He was taken aback when Arthur's gloved hand rested on his cheek, his eyes inspecting him.

"Have you never learnt how to dodge?" Arthur asked him mockingly and Alfred pouted angrily, not minding the soothing feeling Arthur's glove provided for his bruising cheek. "Why did you agree to tell the Italian?"

"Eh… he asked me… about-"

"Don't waste my time."

"He asked me about the location of someone named Beilschmidt, and I couldn't refuse. He was really desperate to know." Alfred quickly said, not missing the annoyed and impatient look Arthur gave him. To his surprise, Arthur started chuckling, withdrawing his hand. It wasn't the kind of threatening or malicious chuckle he often used, it sounded like he was genuinely having fun.

He eventually settled onto a small smile and nodded at Alfred. "Not many dare to disobey me when I give them an order." He started and Alfred gave a tiny smile. "If I find you interacting with that bastard again, I will abandon you in the seas for the kraken. Clear?"

"As a crystal." Alfred nodded, and Arthur petted him on his shoulder approvingly. He ignored the urge to comment on how the kraken is a fable and doesn't exist, but Arthur would just scold him, and he knew it was meant as a threat and that he shouldn't take it literally.

"I am impressed, Alfred." Alfred's heart fluttered ridiculously and he frowned. _He'd called him Alfred._ Of course he had called him Alfred before, but this time it wasn't in a teasing or angry manner.

But this was nothing to be happy about! It was normal, Alfred was his name! It was rude to always call him Jones or just wave him over. He gave up fighting the smile that appeared on his face and turned around.

Arthur looked at him weirdly but Alfred quickly nodded, averting his eyes from the bright green eyes of his captain.

"How did you know?" Alfred asked, curiosity showing in his question. He wondered if Arthur would mind him asking, but it was really his business as well.

"I think you are still unfamiliar with the term 'secrecy'." Arthur replied with a smirk. "You were painfully obvious."

"Who told you?"

Arthur halted and eyed him suspiciously, and Alfred was pleasantly surprised and proud that he guessed correctly. Of course Arthur had eyes everywhere, being a captain and all. Arthur scoffed and relaxed slightly, his shoulders less tense.

"The idiot frog did." He said dismissingly and Alfred remembered the insult for the obnoxious, slightly strange French captain. "It appears he was present at the Italian's… reunion with his brother."

"Why was that Antonio so angry with Lovino knowing?"

Arthur looked at him annoyingly, probably because he didn't want to answer all those questions, but Alfred didn't falter and he answered them anyway. "Antonio took Lovino with him by force, thus separating the two brothers. He must have been afraid that his pet would run off with the other priest."

Alfred was silent for a while before his eyes widened. _"Priest?"_

His captain smirked. "Both of the Italians are, or were, priests. Most pirates believe the greatest treasure is something from the church. It is the ultimate insult to the Pope, after all."

"But… Lovino, he was…"

"Committing sodomy? You aren't quite used to a pirate's life yet, are you? Why would Antonio care about godly matters, he can get his fill by force or not. The Italian is just a smart little boy for accepting Antonio's affections."

Alfred swallowed at the dark look in his captain's eyes and he suddenly wondered if he too, had once done something like that. Or is still doing something like that. He was slightly disturbed by the thought of his captain engaging himself in _that _activity with another man, but was also disturbed when he found himself slightly warm as he thought about his captain's random affectionate touches.

Without really wanting too, he suddenly saw himself in Lovino's position with Arthur as his captain, and his blush grew so deep he had no chance of hiding it. Arthur raised an eyebrow at him and suddenly Alfred wondered (stupidly) if Arthur would be dominant, even though Alfred was taller and bigger, and he slapped himself for even considering all of this.

"Do I want to know what you are thinking about, Alfred?" Arthur asked him and Alfred's blush intensified, before he rapidly shook his head.

"Absolutely not! So! Eh, why did that Frenchie tell you anyway?" Alfred quickly asked, desperate to change the subject and Arthur's expression returned to neutral.

"Why shouldn't he? I don't gain anything from the fact." He remarked, and Alfred suddenly could see his captain and the French captain (Francis?) sitting at a table, conversing about trivial matters and exchanging silly facts. "Anyway, we should continue. We will set sail in a few hours."

"Right. Where were we heading? Loando?"

"São Paulo de Loanda. It lies in Angola, south-central Africa." Arthur added helpfully, so that Alfred didn't feel completely stupid for not knowing the name at all. At Alfred's nod, his captain passed him and walked over to the plank, before stopping in his tracks and turning around again.

"Those men you accused of treason ran away this night."

"Oh? Then I was right?"

"You were, but don't enjoy it. We have an attack we need to prepare for. Perhaps the men have alerted the marine and they won't attack us. But I know the navy is stubborn, and even not, we prepare for any oncoming attacks anyway."

"Aha. Do we get attack a lot?" He hadn't noticed any danger in his few weeks on the ship, and Arthur smirked.

"Ships such as the Scarlet Fiesta, La Liberté or die Ehrfurcht won't think about attacking us, and neither shall we." He said confidently, and Alfred wondered why they wouldn't attack the Scarlet Fiesta if they seemed to rival each other so much. "But there are enough enemies on sea."

"I guessed so." Alfred agreed, wondering if there were any true enemies they should be watching out for.

"Have you ever fought before?"

"Yeah, sure."

"To the death?"

"…No." Alfred admitted, looking down. His captain's gaze was always quite intense. He knew he would have to kill… but he wondered if he would actually be able to kill once the opportunity was there.

Arthur looked at him, a gentle, hesitating look in his eyes. It surprised Alfred, as did the following honest words. "It is better if you don't think about it. They are trying to kill you as well."

"I know. But… they are people. They have a family and a life."

"It is the risk that comes with the job. Do you think we pirates have no family or no life?"

"Well… didn't you abandon all that, once you decided to become a pirate?" Alfred asked, looking up again. Arthur looked back at the ship, guilt appearing in his eyes. It was gone as fast as it appeared, and Alfred had to wonder if what he saw was true or not.

"We all try, but some things are hard to abandon. If you died, would your family be sad?"

"I think so." Alfred said hesitatingly.

"Even if they knew you were a pirate?"

It was a trick question and Alfred doubted his answer, before shrugging and nodding. "I _am _their son… It would be hard to just cut all ties, right? If Mattie died as a pirate, I would grieve as much than as if he were a simple baker."

"That is what I mean." Arthur replied softly, looking back at the ship with a slightly dreaming look. "In the end we all prefer to think our family loves us unconditionally."

Alfred was about to offer some comfort – his captain would never say that if hadn't experienced such hurt himself – when William shouted at the crew to hurry up and both of them snapped out of the conversation.

Arthur tapped at Alfred's cheek again. "Go to Daniel and get that looked at. As well as the bruise on your stomach." His hand trailed down slightly and Alfred's heart leaped when he thought of his captain's hand on his stomach, when Arthur suddenly retracted his hand.

They both went up the plank and after Arthur disappeared in his quarters, Alfred quickly went under deck and to the small quarters of their surgeon, Daniel. He found him drinking rum and scowled as he told him what was wrong. Daniel laughed at him before standing up and clapping his hand, ordering him to sit on the table.

"Just a few bruised ribs." Daniel noted after he took a look. "Might be hurting fer a while, but ye'll get over it."

Alfred got out of the room quickly, never having liked a doctor anyway, and went up the deck to be informed that William knew of the attack. After the entire crew was persuaded or either shut up, they started on small preparations and Alfred offered to help out with the masts and sails.

He rather liked climbing on the masts from time to time, because it allowed him a better view of the ship and of the town, if they were docked. And in a warm land like Spain, the air there was a little cooler as well. He smiled at the town, knowing he might never see it again, and got to work.

_Regreso al barco – Return to the ship  
>Scusi? – Excuse me?<br>Perro inútil – useless dog  
>¿Quién sabe? – Who knows<em>?

_Brach – an Elizabethan slang for bitch hound_

São Paulo de Loanda was a short name for São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda. Present day it's called Luanda. It was founded it 1575. 

**Concerning the pirate talk and the English talk – I already explained Arthur tries to keep his knowledge of good English. Alfred agrees but doesn't try too hard – because he just recently joined the pirate crew and had always lived with a proper family, he still hangs on his English. He will be talking with the ye's and the fer's in a while. **

**So far we have met Arthur, Alfred and Ivan aboard on the Emerald Dragon! I don't know why Ivan would be there, but I love to continue on his rivalry with Alfred, so that's why.  
>Then we have Antonio and Lovino on the Scarlet Maiden. There is Francis on La Liberté, and Gilbert, Ludwig and Feliciano on Die Ehrfurcht. <strong>

**There will be more characters on these three ships, such as a male!Seychelles, male!Monaco, Ivan's minions etcetera. Damn France for the female countries, pirates were male back then ! x] to honor some pretty awesome female pirates from back then (i.e. Mary Read), I will probably use one or two female characters like them. **

**R&R! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

HURRR I STILL DOUBT WHO'S SEME AND WHO'S UKE.

**Chapter 6**

Normally when people woke Alfred in the middle of the night for something, like a guard shift, he would groan and roll around, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. He loved to sleep, and if he could, he might even take a nap or two during the day.

That wasn't the case right now. They'd all prepared for an attack, so as soon as he heard a shout about another ship coming their way and a gunshot to wake up the more deaf, Alfred shot up and got ready. He scrambled onto deck, where William was already shouting orders to them to get ready.

He scanned for the captain, finding him behind the wheel, looking on edge but otherwise still calm as ever. Arthur locked eyes on him and beckoned him to come closer.

"You are to stay on the ship." Arthur only said, and Alfred realized that when the ships were close enough, some crewmembers would probably step over to the other. He figured because he never fought like this before, he should stay behind and not be a nuisance. He nodded and returned to William, who ordered him to help with the cannons.

He was getting quite sick of getting ordered around but he figured that was the whole idea of being a pirate, he guessed. There was only so much freedom he could have. He helped secure the cannons safely and helped carrying the cannonballs to a closer point, so people wouldn't have to keep running.

After that, he ran on deck again with some supplies for weapons, in case people needed some close to them. Some sails were taken down, since Arthur was not one to flee, but he didn't want the sails to be ripped either.

Once this was all taken care off, Alfred looked at the other two ships curiously. He had always heard stories about situations like this, but… he never experienced it. He was surprised when he realized he wasn't very scared, just a little nervous, but also very curious.

The other two ships got closer until they stopped, and for a moment it seemed like the two ships were just standing still next to each other. He noticed the noise behind him and realized some people weren't even done yet, even though they already prepared so much. Perhaps a warning did help a lot, or else they might have a disadvantage.

He almost thought the ships would just turn around or pass them after their silence, but then a first shot was fired and missed their ship with just a hair's length. Arthur immediately started shouting to the crew to help maneuver the ship around, so they wouldn't get hit, and to start firing as well.

"Don't give them chance to cross!" He continued his orders, almost like a routine. And like a routine, the crew got to work, and Alfred had no idea what exactly to do. So much orders have been given, that he didn't know which one to do. He figured he could solve it on the most heroic way – try to help out wherever he can.

With an exciting fear he noticed the two ships were moving in on each side of the ship, but he had seen there were cannons on either side of their ship as well. His sleeve was being tugged at and he followed the person down, knowing he didn't know what else to do if someone didn't told him.

He suddenly heard a bigger commotion than before and heard a few battle cries. He looked up the stairs carefully, and noticed some guys must have crossed to the ship on the left side. He wasn't sure about the ship on the right side, though. Arthur must be very pissed, because he had given them the order to stay on a distance that would not be crossable.

The crossers who reached the ship were in fact making short work of most of the shooters on the navy's ship, so he guessed Arthur wouldn't be too mad at them later. After he dragged several cannonballs to help out, he heard a lot more gunshots on the deck than that there should be, and hurried up on the deck as quick as he could.

Some navies had been able to cross on their ship as well, but even though they had better weapons, they were still in the minority. He stood still, observing the situation so he wouldn't walk into a trap as he advanced the fight. A few navies were kicked into the sea as they were killed, some were dropped on the deck, the same with the pirates.

It happened in the blink of an eye, and Alfred knew that even though he suspected it would be much worse, he wouldn't be able to get the sight out of his head for a few days anyway. The man before him stood still abruptly, his eyes wide and mouth open, as the bayonet of the navy stuck out of his chest menacingly. He was thrown away shortly after and Alfred gasped, kneeling down instantly with an insane idea to help the man.

"Hey!" He shouted with confusion. The man couldn't be _dead_, right? He didn't remember his name, something with a B or P, but the man had _worked _and _lived_ with him. He couldn't just die! He didn't know how long he sat there, trying to shake the man awake, but it must have been some minutes.

In the matter of two seconds, he heard a chuckle and he looked up, rolling away just as the same navy tried to stab him with the same bayonet. He scrambled up, grabbing his gun and aiming at him.

And he froze. _Damn._ He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill him! He probably had a family, children, siblings, _parents_! He couldn't kill him and throw him into the sea! Someone bumped against his back that moment and in surprise, he pulled the trigger. The navy had been quite pleased when he saw Alfred's hesitation, but now dropped down with the blood trickling out of the hole in his face.

Alfred looked at it with slowly widening eyes. He… killed him. He shot him.

Someone suddenly grabbed his by his arm roughly and hoisted him up. "Snap outta it, Alfred! Do ye wanna die?" Reggie yelled in his ear, and Alfred blinked. Oh, right, the fight. He looked around, panicking slightly. That man before him wasn't the only one on the ground, unmoving. He heard a shot and flinched as the ship moved a little, apparently a cannonball hit target.

He looked at the steering wheel to see William took over, and he wondered where Arthur was. He froze – what if he was lying around as well? Looking around, he saw nothing flamboyantly dressed on the ground and he breathed out in relief.

"Alfred! Come _on_!"

Oh yes, right. He shook his head and focused just in time, quickly moving away for some other bayonet that was trying to stab him. This time he quickly unsheathed his sword, blocking the attacks like had done with Arthur. While hoping no one was attacking him from behind, Alfred quickly put most of his strength in the blows and the navy was easily overpowered. Deciding not to kill him, Alfred stabbed him near the waist and left him on the ground.

He noticed Reggie beckoning him, and he followed him to the cannons quickly. There too, were people on the ground, and he tried to ignore them the best he could while Reggie explained to him how to lighten the cord that caused the cannon to explode. He did this on routine, trying to keep his mind blank, picking up the cannonballs with ease and putting them in the cannon.

After what seemed like a day for Alfred, the noise gradually lessened and some people sighed in relief. Alfred looked out of the cannon hole very carefully, and noticed one ship were retreating.

Reggie slumped over the cannon, a tired look spreading on his face. "Man, those navies can kiss me behind, if yer catchin' my drift."

Alfred numbly walked over and upstairs to the deck, and noticed the other navy ship was still next to theirs. There were a lot of pirates on it, and the remaining navies were all crouched down in defeat. He sighed. They won, fortunately. But… he wondered if this was a bad fight or a more normal one. He didn't have any fight to compare against. And it was so quick. Surely there had to be fights that took much longer. The ships had seemed rather small in comparison with the Emerald Dragon as well, maybe they estimated wrongly?

He stepped over the very few bodies, noticing the pirates threw the bodies of the navies down the sea with big grins. They didn't look that tired. Must be a normal fight then. Alfred suddenly felt nauseous, and he ran to the railing. As soon as he hung over it, he heaved into the blue-grey seas beneath him. The rocking and the strong smell of blood and salt didn't help his condition, and once he was done he instantly had to heave again at the sight of a body floating by.

He didn't know how long he hung over the railing, trying to regain posture slowly. He had closed his eyes in favor or seeing no more bodies, and once he thought it was safe to straighten up, he opened them. His eyes immediately fell on the bright red coat of his captain. The hat perched proudly on his head as he walked, his sword unsheathed and gun ready, a wide grin on his face.

He looked just as magnificent as always, between the navies and the blood of their dead. He walked even more obnoxiously than normal, and he wondered what he was saying. He was walking back and forth the line of navies crouched down, apparently talking. Someone raised his head and said something, and the moment he finished, Arthur shot him in the head. He flinched at the sight and looked away quickly, trying to see if he could help with anything – he just had to ignore the mess.

"Alfred."

He looked up and locked eyes with Ivan, who smiled at him. There was nothing eerie about it this time, but he still wasn't comfortable with him, especially not because his grey coat had one tiny red blotch on it.

"What?" Alfred asked back annoyed.

"Good job." Ivan merely said, and at Alfred's confused face, he chuckled. "My first time went a lot worse. But, that was a worse fight than this." He hardly believed that Ivan shared the same disgust and sadness, but all right, it wasn't an insult. Alfred shrugged and turned around, noticing Arthur coming back from the plank.

For a second there was a hint of a sympathetic smile on his captain's face, but it was gone so quickly he almost thought he imagined it. "Get some rest." Was all that Arthur said when he passed by, and Alfred frowned. Rest? Rest? What was he, a kid? He could handle this. Well, he feared he couldn't, but he was going to try.

"But, what about… about the…" Alfred faltered, trying his best not to look down at what was around him. Arthur turned around slightly and sighed.

"Go to my quarters, Alfred, and get some rest. I don't want you throwing your lungs up on us." Arthur said in a scolding manner. Alfred's heart fluttered for a moment at the use of his first name, but he mentally slapped himself; the situation was nothing to be giddy about.

He decided he indeed didn't want to throw up anymore, and quickly stumbled to the captain's quarters, shutting the door behind him. It was completely untouched, completely clean and smelled like usual. He closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to forget the whole ordeal that happened on the other side of those doors. He noticed a couch, that looked a lot more comfortable than usual, and dropped himself onto it.

He bit his lips, closing his eyes tightly. He wasn't going to cry. He was seventeen, he would almost be eighteen. He shouldn't cry, crying was for children and he was a man already, and he knew this would happen. The fact he was a pirate only added more to that statement.

Alfred hid his face as he crossed his arms above it. This way, if he couldn't avoid it, he wouldn't be seen. Not that anyone would walk in here, except for the captain or first mate perhaps. He tried to relax to the soft rocks of the waves serving as some sort of weak lullaby.

After a while, he woke up to the door being slammed shut. He started and fell off the couch in surprise, seeing it didn't have as much room as his hammock. There was a heavy thud and he groaned, wondering what he did to deserve this.

The person who entered ignored him (he figured it was Arthur… bingo), and his captain walked over to his desk, grabbing some papers and looking over them furiously.

"Captain?" Alfred asked carefully, and Arthur waved at him in dismissal. He pouted, feeling slightly dejected, but nodded and walked out of the quarters slowly, feeling a headache. As soon as he got out, he noticed there was no more mess, and he wondered if it was a dream or if it had happened.

He stood still and watched the deck curiously, when one of Ivan's minions (he liked to call them that), Eduard, walked passed him, and he stopped him quickly.

"Hey, why haven't we set sail yet?"

"Well… the captain needs to check the maps and directions we are heading too. He's going to alter some courses because of the planned attack earlier… and we lost some men, he's going to try and replace some of their positions. After Tim's patched up, we're ready to set sail."

"Positions? Who did we lose?"

"Ehm… the first mate, a surgeon apprentice and a cooper." Eduard replied, probably finding it easier to call them by their positions instead of their names. Alfred looked at him astonished. William? They lost William, like that?

"Oh. Okay." He nodded and Eduard smiled carefully at him, not at ease himself, before continuing with his work. Alfred abruptly turned around and re-entered the captain's quarters. Arthur didn't look up at him, so he took a sit on a chair on the other side of the desk, and leaned back.

After a minute or five, Arthur gave a sign of recognition by a quick glance. "Yes, Jones?" Ah, he was back to using Jones. How formal of him. When Alfred gave no reply, he stopped and looked up at him. Alfred smiled slightly.

"I just wanted some rest." He said quietly. "I don't think I would be of much help." Arthur frowned at him, probably thinking he should go to the hammocks instead or just man up and help, but he said nothing and continued his work.

There were a few shouts on the deck and he after another few minutes he felt the steady rhythm of the ship setting sail – the quartermaster, Tim, probably gave the orders to continue. Arthur didn't miss a beat in his work and Alfred closed his eyes again, trying to enjoy the small moment of peace.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the long wait, and here's the new chapter! Thank you for all your sweet reviews too! **

**Chapter 7**

"We will continue to Loanda," Arthur said as he stood near the steering wheel to address everyone. "Unfortunately we have to stay longer than planned. While we are there, I want everyone to help repair the ship and to restock. Me, Tim and Jones will find some new recruits."

Alfred's interest was perked and he frowned, why should he come with the captain and the new first mate? Apparently some others thought the same but voiced their thoughts loudly, and Arthur glared at them, annoyed.

"Why would it matter to you? Now that Tim is the first mate, I have no quartermaster. Seeing that Jones is one of the few who has proved himself to me multiple times in a small period of time, unlike most of you pigs, he is temporarily most suited as a quartermaster." Oh, temporarily. He's most likely on some sort of test-period, and if he fails he'll be replaced.

Some guys snorted. "The quartermaster has to be elected by us!"

"Then by this I order you to elect him. Satisfied?" Arthur replied, annoyed. He glared at the guys who commented and they all shut up. Few glared at Alfred, but the matter was quickly forgotten.

Alfred quickly climbed the steps to the deck above the current one, meeting up with his captain. He was talking with Tim, so Alfred politely waited until Tim nodded and walked off to the steering wheel, leaning on it tiredly. Arthur sent him a disapproving look before noticing his new quartermaster, and Alfred leant on the railings as Arthur walked over to him.

"I proved myself multiple times? I don't remember." Alfred starts out cheekily, hoping he would get Arthur to explain if he didn't show how surprised he was. "I guess I did save the ship with the warning and all…"

"Don't flatter yourself. We would have crushed them either way, but instead of hurrying we could work with a leisurely pace." _What. _Leisurely pace? What the- he had been exhausted! Arthur smirked at his surprised expression and he quickly recovered.

"But still, I've only been here for a few weeks. Some others must be more trustworthy."

"Why so humble, Jones? Would you rather me give Ivan the authority over you?"

"_Definitely not._" Alfred growled out, thinking about the worst case scenarios if that had happened. "Aside from that creep, there are better people than me."

"There might be, but I hope you are not questioning my motives."

"Of course not." Alfred quickly replied, noticing Arthur was watching him sharply. After a short silence, Alfred smiled lightly and Arthur nodded.

"If you need to know anything, don't hesitate to ask Tim, or me, if it isn't a petty question." He added, and Alfred was surprised Arthur even offered himself as a source of information.

"How far until we reach Loanda?" Alfred decided on asking first, knowing it was a safe and good question to begin with.

"I'd say another week or so. The wind's in our favour." He replied quietly, looking at the sails. There was a sudden shout from the watch, and both of them looked up to see what the matter was. The man on watch pointed to the left vigorously and Arthur followed the direction, tensing.

Alfred wondered if it was the Spaniard or perhaps that French guy they ran into earlier. He had heard that the Spaniard was heading to Cape of Good Hope, and wasn't that in the same direction? Fortunately it were two strange, foreign ships. Arthur seemed to recognize them and Alfred watched with surprise as Arthur relaxed completely and even smiled a tiny little bit.

He ordered for the ship to slow down to a halt as the two ships, one bigger than the other, slowly advanced until both of the ships reached the Emerald Dragon's left side.

Arthur seemed to act a little more pleasant to the ship surrounding them now, and he supposes they were more of the friend-type to them. There were two of them, but he didn't know if there were two captains or if they were under one captain.

Arthur walked away once the crew on the other ship started to arrange a wooden plank so that people would be able to cross safely. Alfred frowned at the unanswered questions he had and walked over to Tim at the wheel.

"Who are they?" Alfred decided on asking, and Tim turned to him with a tired smile. He did seem to be very tired this day, perhaps he had to work a lot since he just got to be first mate.

"They're Scandinavian. Ye see the big guy with the blue coat? That's Cap'n Berwald, he'd be from Sweden. The blonde be an aspirin' first mate last time I saw him, he must be one now. Like cap'n, they'd been wanderin' these here seas from coast to coast, and we met them before. They'd both been thinkin' about a truce, so here we are."

"His first mate looks young…"

"He's saved from the famine in Finland. He'd be older than he looks." Tim explained, and Alfred noted how much he knew. Then that must mean Arthur met up with these guys more than once in a while.

"The other ship is also theirs," He said, nodding to the smaller ship. "They'd be usin' it for supplies!"

"That's rather smart."

"And rather dangerous." Tim said, and Alfred nodded, that had some truth in it. It would be difficult to manoeuver two ships around to keep them safe in battle.

Arthur appeared in sight again and gave a few orders to keep the ship in order and ready to go, as he crossed the large plank that had been thrown between the two boats. Alfred would surely hobble all around the unsteady plank with the waves and all, but the captain's steps were firm and sure.

Suddenly Alfred wondered if Arthur could swim. A lot of pirates couldn't actually swim, even though it would be a lot better if they could. As children, Alfred and Matthew taught themselves how to swim, and usually took a swim quite often, until their father found out.

Alfred, not quite sure of his job as quartermaster, decided to lean on the rails and look at his captain. As a quartermaster he was in charge of the deck but he had absolutely no idea what to do, and figured he might as well ask Tim about it later that evening.

He wondered why Tim didn't follow his captain like a first mate should, but decided on ignoring it – it wasn't his business. He could tag along with his captain too, though, as a quartermaster. The thought suddenly occurred to him, but it seemed a little inappropriate.

His captain seemed horribly small next to Berwald, who stood tall and looked very stern. They were fairly close to the other ship, so he could see them clearly, and he could hear the tones of their voices, but that was about it. Eventually the captain of the Swedish ship nodded and followed Arthur back over the plank. Alfred watched them curiously, before his eyes locked onto those of the first mate, Tino.

Knowing he was caught staring, Alfred cleared his throat and nodded. Tino smiled widely at him, almost childishly, and waved at him enthusiastically. He raised an eyebrow and grinned back slightly, before noticing his captain was back on deck, and addressing one of the crew members.

"Bring us some tea, if you'd please." His captain said and Alfred almost had to keep in a snort. Really? Tea? Well, now he thought about it, Arthur did seem like he would like the expensive delicacy. And why not rampage a few company ships and ransack them? He never really saw Arthur drink or eat much, so it wasn't that much of a surprise.

He was so caught up in his mind that he didn't notice that the two captains had disappeared in Arthur's study, and that Tino was suddenly in front of him, alone.

"Hello! Are you the first mate?" His accent was really thick, which surprised him. If he was saved from the famine in Finland by that captain, he should have been with the Swedish guy a long time. Don't people take over an accent the longer they are with him? He mentally slapped himself. Maybe this is the Swedish accent, it wasn't as if he knew.

"Eh, no I'm not." Alfred quickly replied and he nodded to Tim, at the steering wheel. "He is. I'd be the quartermaster."

"Oh! That's almost the same, really. You look like a first mate!" Tino said, smiling brightly and Alfred frowned. Why would anyone look like a first mate, it isn't as if they wear different things or look different. "I'm Tino Väinämöinen!" Tino _what_?

"Alfred Jones." He said with a pleasant smile and Tino nodded, but then the conversation grew silent and they both averted their eyes to the captain's quarters. Alfred sneaked a look at the first mate, and saw an undying happiness in them. Damn, he really looked like he was just a kid. "If ya don't mind me asking… How old are ya?"

Tino looked surprised, but laughed. "I get that a lot. I'm eighteen. You?"

"Almost eighteen. You look… never mind." _Damn_, he was _older_.

"I look younger, _minä tiedän_.." Alfred looked at him weirdly before Tino caught himself and smiled. "Sorry, that means 'I know' in Finnish. I'm kind of used to people understanding me on my ship. A lot of people on our ship our Finnish too, you know, because Finland is one of the four Swedish lands? So I can still talk Finnish to some people, that's really nice. I also know Swedish though, Berwald taught me so I could converse with him when – Oh, _olen pahoillani_, sorry. I'm rambling."

Alfred snickered. "That's all right." God knows how often he does it when he's nervous. Even though the boy was his age, Alfred felt a strong urge to raise his hand and ruffle his hair like he would with a younger brother, but refrained from doing so.

"So you are an Englishman?" Tino asked politely and Alfred nodded. "Captain Kirkland usually only takes Englishmen on his crew. Of course there are exceptions."

Like Ivan. Speaking off… Alfred looked around for a while and suddenly noticed Ivan at the mast, glaring at the boy in front of him heatedly. Whoa, what was up there? Tino noticed his confused look and smiled. "I take it the Russian guy is looking at me? He doesn't like us very much. I think it has something to do with the wars between Sweden and Russia."

"That guy takes everything too personal. Don't let him bother ya." He said sternly, feeling a wave of over protectiveness and Tino just smiled. It occurred to Alfred he wasn't first mate for nothing, and he was curious. He must be strong or really smart, because he doubted a man like Berwald would just pick someone on his looks. Or maybe he was really just a closet-pervert... Alfred grinned at the thought and shook his head. Nah, Tino was probably creepily strong or smart.

Arthur and Berwald remerged after another half an hour and Arthur nodded at him before Berwald walked over to his first mate, who was now sitting on the railings as he talked to Alfred.

"Ah, Berwald!" Informality. Maybe there was more to them than meets the eye after all. Alfred shrugged it off, perhaps Berwald was just that kind of guy. "This is Alfred, their new quartermaster!"

All he received was a nod his way and he smiled nervously, nodding back. "Tino," Berwald addressed his first mate again. "W're goin' back to th' ship." Wow, so Tino did have a Finnish accent after all. He wasn't sure he could've had a serious conversation if he had the same accent as his Captain.

"All right! See you later, Alfred!"

"Yeah, sure." Alfred replied with a grin, nodding as Tino waved and jumped up to leave. Arthur eyed them as they left and pulled the plank to their side of the ship, as it was apparently theirs. Then he walked over to him and Alfred smiled brightly at him.

"What's up?"

Arthur looked at him before he nodded to the Scandinavian ship. "They will accompany us to the next dock. We have to meet with some others…" He trailed off and Alfred wondered if the last sentence was just a thought or not, because Arthur did look away from him and up in the air, before turning his head back to him.

"Anyway, get back to work. We need to get going. They will follow us to Loanda."

"Will they come to South America with us?" Alfred asked curiously, and Arthur shrugged.

"They won't tag along _with _us, but they are free to sail the seas as we are." He explained curtly and Alfred nodded, stopping the questioning. Suddenly, once his crewmembers shouted they were ready to go, Arthur smirked at Alfred, beckoning to follow him towards the steer wheel.

"You steer."

Alfred gaped at him, but at his captain's annoyed glare quickly did as he was expected to. As a quartermaster he almost had the same rights as a first mate, that included steering. And it would probably be expected of him too, if Arthur trusted him enough to also leave him alone at the wheel from time to time.

He smiled brightly. As the quartermaster he was able to steer a lot more… well, as a normal crewmember he wasn't allowed to steer at all. He thought about the fact he was a quartermaster again and frowned lightly. He'd only been here for what, two or three months? He lost the track of time while at the ship, he noted.

This was the first time he'd ever been so far from home, first time he was nearby Africa. He had only seen a small part of when they docked at the first port in West-Africa to repair the minor damage on the ship. But they had only been there for a few hours and Alfred hadn't even set foot on land. He figured Arthur also wanted to continue quickly because surely the Scarlet Fiesta would go the same way as they would, until they headed for South-America.

Needless to say, they were gone as soon as possible, and now they were heading for the second port. They would stay there longer, so perhaps Alfred would get the opportunity to see a bit more…

"Concentration, Alfred." Arthur voice and use of his first name snapped him back to reality, and he wondered what there was to concentrate. All he had to do was make sure the steer didn't get a mind of his own, quite boring really. Arthur was sitting on the rails in front of the steer, looking at him intensely.

Alfred risked a smile and a nod, and Arthur had some pleased look, before he turned his head slightly to watch the other ship. Alfred, knowing there were only miles of seas in front of them, kept studying his captain carefully. He seemed tired, but figured that would be from the sudden change of courses and perhaps even first mate.

Even though the obvious exhaustion, Arthur still looked dangerous and mighty, sitting on the rails with his legs propped against the decorations.

He apparently had abandoned his red coat in his room, and only wore a loose white shirt he had tucked into his black trousers, two belts around his waist to hold his gun and his sword. There was also a piece of cloth wrapped around his small waist, and there was a purple gem that held the ruches on his shirt together, and if you looked more closely you could see a necklace with an emerald around his neck. The hat was also nowhere to be seen, and his unkempt blonde hair moved with- woah.

"You seem to be on good terms with them." Alfred said, clearing his throat, distracting himself by mentioning the other ship. Arthur gave no sign that he heard him for a few seconds, before nodding.

"They are… reasonable. Berwald is a man I find worthy to respect." Alfred smiled, knowing that Arthur undoubtedly thought something in the lines of 'unlike that frog, or bastard'. "I guess I owe them, as well."

Arthur smiled, and for once, it seemed true. It was almost a gentle smile, one of honesty. Alfred stared at him in surprise, feeling the heat on his cheeks. He averted his eyes from the happy look on his captain's face. Blasted.

They sat in silence for a while. Alfred noticed that eventually Arthur closed his eyes and leaned his head back a bit. First, he was worried he might fall down or something, but the twirling of his fingers against the wood proved Arthur was very awake.

The moment felt almost peaceful. There was a little noise from the crewmembers downstairs and a little noise from objects being moved or opened, some shouting from the top of the mast to the people down it. He smiled and focused on the sound of the seas. He could see why people would want to be a pirate. Heck, as a kid he wanted to be a pirate too, he wanted to be a hero.

But now he saw that it was also… freeing. As if you controlled all those seas. You could go wherever you would want to go, fight anyone you want to, drink, sleep… technically, you were free. You only had to maintain the one thing that helped the freedom – the ship. And obey the captain of course, but without him you wouldn't be on the ship.

Alfred looked back and noticed the two Scandinavian ships way behind them. He knew they would attract a lot of attention if they sailed nearby each other, so it was only reasonable they kept such a big distance from each other.

"Why's that?" Alfred suddenly asked, reminiscing about the earlier conversation. "Why do you owe them? Isn't that dangerous?"

Arthur opened his eyes and gave him a small glare for intruding on personal information. He looked down and was about to apologize when Arthur sighed. Afraid to look up because it might spur Arthur to keep the answer for himself, Alfred kept his head down and listened intensely.

"I come from a parentless family." Arthur started in a soft voice, almost a whisper. "My three brothers left early and I was left to fend off my younger brother and I. I couldn't, and I abandoned him to become a pirate."

There was a pregnant silence, and Alfred looked up slightly to see Arthur had his eyes closed tightly. He wondered if Arthur thought he would ridicule him for it, but he guess he could understand the situation. Who knew how old either of them were? If there was any blame, that would be on his three brothers or perhaps even his parents.

"Berwald was in England at that time. He found my brother and provided him with a safe family in Sweden." This Berwald seemed to have an extremely kind heart, Alfred noted. He saved Arthur's brother, he saved Tino from the famine in Finland. He wondered who else on that ship owed their captain. "I met him four years ago, a few weeks after I became captain. He saw the resemblance."

"You've been captain for only four years?" Alfred couldn't help but blurt out, and at Arthur's slightly amused look he grinned embarrassingly.

"How old do you think I am?"

"Ancient." Alfred said very seriously. Arthur raised an eyebrow and Alfred burst out in laughter. "No! Kidding! I don't know… twenty five?" At Arthur's silence, he prodded a little more. "Am I right? Or close?"

Arthur sighed. "I am twenty two." At this, Alfred stayed silent. His fearful, scary and powerful captain, was only four years older than him. "Do you think about your family often, Alfred?"

The question was so random that Alfred was momentarily taken aback, before he shrugged. "I try not to, but I guess I think a lot about Mattie and my mum. Matthew is me younger brother." Alfred clarified. "He's going to be replacing me now that I'm gone. And I kinda miss me youngest brother, I guess. Albert always thought I was a hero and all and I felt like a wonderful older brother." Alfred added with a laugh. "I don't think he'll think the same of me now. Hero's don't disappear or get killed, after all."

"That thought will only be temporary." Arthur provided silently and Alfred shrugged. "It wasn't your fault you got murdered, _if_ they believed your little stunt."

"Nor was it that you abandoned him." Alfred blurted out and he immediately regretted it. Arthur tensed and glared at him with angry eyes. It wasn't his fault really, Arthur did tell him all that and Alfred had the right to talk about it if Arthur brought on the subject, right?

Arthur abruptly stood back on the deck and turned around. "Captain, I-" Arthur shut him up with a glare over his shoulder and walked down the stairs, before disappearing in what Alfred knew were the captain's quarters. He frowned and slumped over the steering wheel. Arthur didn't allow him to get too personal, and he understood it, but he still felt disappointed.

The rest of the day he was pretty much ignored by his captain, but he steered clear off him too. Obviously, he had overstepped a pretty serious boundary, and Alfred felt more than grateful he got off so easily.

* * *

><p><span>- Finland suffered a severe famine in 1696–1697, during which about one-third of the Finnish population died. Tino has been rescued as child (born in 1693) and is now 18! <span>

- Finland was considered one of the four Swedish lands until 1809, but Swedish was not the major language in the country like in the other three lands.. 

- in the 18th century, wars between Sweden and Russia led to the occupation of Finland twice by Russian forces, once in 1714 and 1742. There is no war between Russia and Finland yet, but it will be in three years (the year now was 1711, June, next chapter will be July)

**Fun fact: Alfred will probably be a quartermaster for the entire story, and if I feel a little mean he might even get demoted at one point xD Also, I know quartermasters have much responsibility. Alfred however is a hero *cough-slacker-cough*.. and therefore, he will probably have more fun and do what HE thinks is awesome, than actually do what he's supposed to do… Fortunately we have the Captain and First mate! **

**soooo I'm almost done introducing everyone, lol. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The following days, Alfred learnt more about the positions on a pirate ship than he could've wished for. The most important facts were about the quartermaster though, so he made sure he forgot pretty much everything else.

Apparently, it was the quartermasters responsibility to lead the pirate boarding party when coming aboard an enemy ship. He was quite shocked by this, seeing he had no experience whatsoever with attacks and fights.

Also, he ranked higher than anyone else on the ship except for the captain and the first mate, though he came awfully close to the first mate. Like Tim, he had the right to veto the captain's decisions whenever the ship was not chasing something or engaged in battle. Though, he thought, if he would veto a decision of Arthur, he would most likely get hurt… so that should be ruled out.

He was also partly responsible for the discipline of the crew, and he had to assess punishments for crewmen who… did something bad, he guessed. He wondered if he could truly punish anyone… probably not.

And if Tim died, he _might, perhaps,_ become first mate if Arthur didn't find anyone more suitable.

Speaking off his captain, Alfred frowned. Things between them had been incredibly tense after their last conversation and even though Alfred thought it was a ridiculous matter to be angry about, he couldn't blame his captain either. He wished he could just apologize, but he wondered if that would settle things.

He groaned; he sounded like a guilty, lovesick adolescent girl. He had to stop that behaviour immediately, because Arthur wouldn't appreciate it at all. He sighed and sat back against the mast tiredly. He had been expected to order everyone around, and he did his best, but he felt horribly useless so he decided to help with the knots in the masts.

He looked over the blue-grey seas around the ship. He could still faintly see the two Scandinavian ships behind them, but it was hardly noticeable that they were following the Emerald Dragon.

Alfred shook his head when he realized he had been sulking over his captain for over ten minutes. He looked at the setting sun and blinked; there was another matter he had to focus on here.

"Hey Alfie! Booze time!" Reggie yelled at him from the bottom of the mast and Alfred grinned widely. They were right; he should get wasted instead of sulking over his captain this particular day. He quickly clambered down and received a harsh slap on his back.

"Happy b'day buddie." Reggie congratulated loudly and some other crewmembers voiced their agreement. They all worked a little while more before they could ready the ship to sail on its own very slowly. Alfred spared his captain's quarters one more look before joining the growing group on the upper deck.

Rum and other bottles were already being exchanged and he joyfully sat down next to one of the gunners, Ebenezer, happily humming along a soft tune their musician played softly.

"Too bad we ain't on land! We shuld've gotten him laid!" The group dispersed into laughter and agreements and Alfred blushed brightly, resting his arms on his knees.

"Oh shut up! He ain't been deflowered yet!"

"Oi! Shut the hell up!" Alfred shouted, embarrassed as the group laughed again at the mention of Alfred's virginity.

"Yer the only virgin here, Alfie!" Alfred snapped at him to mind his own business before the image of his captain popped up and he groaned. That occurred way too much lately. Of course his captain wasn't a virgin, he was a _pirate captain. _They didn't only rob people from money and maps.

"I'll compensate that by getting me wasted." Alfred wisely responded and the group cheered as he chugged down half of the rum bottle. He felt horribly nauseous and felt the urge to spit it back out of his mouth, but swallowed it all and acted like he actually enjoyed it. With all this sulking and thoughts of his lately, he wouldn't mind getting smashed.

"Keep it civil!" Tim warned them from below deck, and the group snickered as they confirmed the request, but Alfred wondered how pirates could even be considered civil. He shrugged and downed a few more gulps, before they made it some sort of game. Every time one of them would talk in pirate slang instead of correct English, they had to take a gulp.

Needless to say, most of the crew was drunk after two hours. Alfred and a few others had been around the captain enough to save themselves quite some times, fortunately. He did feel a little sober when Arthur passed them once to fetch Tim. At their jokes at English, Arthur glared at them before he dismissingly shook his head and walked back down.

Really, all they did was having fun, and he's just so stuck up. After another hour, most of them were either drunk out of their mind, or just drunk, and a few had gone to sleep somewhere already. It wasn't even midnight, Alfred noted with amusement.

He stumbled down to deck, holding a bottle in his hand and decided to just get the whole tenseness between him and his captain over with. He nodded, knowing he was sober enough to regret it in five minutes but still wanting to do this.

Knocking politely, Alfred let himself in the captain's quarters. Arthur was sitting at his desk, his hat discarded on a small table. He was silently looking at some papers, not doing anything. When Alfred cleared his throat, Arthur made a dismissive wave with his hand.

Oh no, he didn't. Alfred snorted and ignored the order, walking over and leaning over the desk to see Arthur was looking at some written papers. He couldn't quite make out what letters were on the paper, so he chose to ignore them as well.

When Arthur only replied with tensing slightly, Alfred pouted and slammed the still closed bottle on the desk impatiently.

"Come 'nd drink cap'n! It's me birthday." Alfred announced and Arthur, finally acknowledging him, looked up with an irritable look.

"I rather not." Arthur replied, looking at him with a mildly disgusted look. Alfred puffed his cheek out childishly (it always worked on Mattie), and, feeling a lot more daring than he should, pulled himself up and sat down on the desk with one knee standing on the ground, one knee on the desk. The desk creaked under him and Arthur looked down at the shuffled papers.

Alfred pushed the bottle under his nose.

"Bet ye can't drink that in one go."

Arthur looked at him with bright green eyes, before giving him a tiny smirk. "You sure you want to take on that bet?" He asked him lowly, and Alfred nodded. He watched in slight disbelief as Arthur snatched the bottle away from him with a sigh, opening it and putting it to his mouth. Alfred watched, fascinated, as he gulped it down in one go, without stopping to breath.

He was too fascinated by the Adam's apple bob up and down with each gulp, noticing one tiny drop of rum escaping and trailing down his chin. Hm. Weird. Alfred held out his hand to wipe it away, accidentally pushing too hard in his drunken haze.

Arthur frowned at him, and Alfred watched with amusement as a faint red dusk showed on Arthur's cheeks. _Really?_ He only had one bottle!

He giggled stupidly, even more when Arthur grabbed his hand and gently pressed his lips to the two fingers that wiped at his mouth earlier. He briefly wondered how many bottles he himself had, but decided he couldn't care less.

"Let's get some more!" Alfred cheered, and Arthur shook his head.

"You'll certainly drop dead on the spot if you drink any more, Jones. We have to restock for rum soon." He added sourly, and Alfred cocked his head to the side.

His captain was right. Despite this, he had some sober thoughts which told him that if he was going to drop dead, he'd rather do it on the captain's couch.

He nodded to himself and stumbled off the desk, making his way over to the couch. Arthur sighed again. "Jones, what are ye still doing here?" He merely asked when Alfred dropped himself on the couch.

Alfred let out another chuckle at the tiny hint of pirate slang instead of English. "One bottle, cap'n? Drank one too many?" He smiled as Arthur scowled at him, balling his fists.

"Bollocks! I'm a bloody pirate, I can hild my loquor better than these here barnacles any day!"

"Hild…don't you mean, hold yer liquor?" Alfred suggested with a wide grin and it earned him a whack on the head with a surprisingly well-aimed ink pot.

He whined and laughed as Arthur glared ferociously. Alfred wasn't easily intimidated by that. Well, normally, he would, but the adorable eyebrows killed the picture any day.

"I'm gonna sleep on yer couch, cap'n." Alfred announced and Arthur stared at him, not moving and glaring at him for some reason. Alfred moved himself so he could look at the door, wondering if something was there, but finding only a wooden door, lied back with a shrug.

"It's going to, prat." Arthur replied and he stood up, walking to the other side of desk. Alfred barked out a laugh at a sudden idea.

"Ye need me to carry ye to yer bed, cap'n?"

"_Don't even think about it. _I am not _that_ intoxicated. Go to your hammock already." Arthur replied icily, and Alfred, slightly chilled by the glare and tone of voice, let out a nervous laugh and hid his face in his arms. He ignored the latter comment, though.

"So why are ye standin' there, cap'n?" Alfred asked suddenly, noticing Arthur hadn't moved from his spot and was looking at the ground with difficulty.

"You are not permitted to ask questions here, you ill-born armpit of Beel… beel… beelze… maggot!" Alfred now burst out into laughter at his captain failed attempt at a curse. "Get out of here!"

"Nah! It's my b'day, I'm allowed to sleep here!"

"Brat," Arthur snapped at him, but giving up on the argument anyway. He slowly walked over to the door that probably led to his bedroom before turning around. "Sure ye don't want to share the bed, _Alfred_?"

If the question didn't completely startle him, the way his captain said his name would and Alfred stood frozen, mouth agape. His captain drunk one fucking bottle, how could he possibly be more drunk than Alfred? Alfred scowled slightly, thinking his captain mistook him for some wench, even though he said his name clearly.

"Go to bed, cap'n."

Arthur smirked wider and he walked over to Alfred, leaning in. Alfred wrinkled his nose as he smelled the rum that he himself had also consumed. "I know some ways to put that mouth to better use, if I'd exclude the ordering around."

Alfred blushed deep crimson. "Wh… I, w-w-wha…"

In a small moment of clarity, Arthur sighed and straightened up, walking over to other room and shutting the door without saying anything else. Alfred stared after him, his mouth agape, and his heart beating wildly. _What _did his captain suggest? Even if he was drunk, he must've been sure Alfred was a male (he was by no means girly!), and did he _suggest… _that he… he would…

Surprisingly, he wasn't absolutely disgusted by his captain's words. The thought he wasn't, disgusted him though, and he scowled, shaking his head and slapping himself in the face once. This was all just the alcohol. He was just wasted. Satisfied, Alfred dropped himself into the soft couch again and within a matter of seconds, he was out like a light.

After what felt like only one hour, Alfred woke with a start as he took a roll in his sleep and tumbled to the floor. Disoriented, he looked around before realizing he wasn't in his hammock. He groaned and picked himself up the floor, shaking his head and noticing it was just getting light out. Another half hour or so and he would've been woken up.

He sighed and rubbed his head. Man, he had one of the worst hangovers ever. Probably the worst, now he thought about it… He never drank much in his earlier life. He couldn't even remember half of last night, and he wondered how in the world he ended up on his captain's couch. Oh well, he wasn't murdered so it was probably all good.

Speaking off… Alfred couldn't contain his curiosity, and slowly walked over to the open door that led to his captain's bedroom. He had to swallow the tiny little bit of fear and looked inside, finding something that was more endearing than frightening, really.

Apparently Arthur had gotten drunk too, because he had fallen asleep on his bed in his clothes, the only thing he shed his red coat and boots. Even his gun was still on his waist. Alfred frowned at the dangerous article, and walked over slowly.

Once he reached the bed, he crouched down slightly and reached to grab the gun. Once he took hold of it, he tried to pry it away from his captain's belt without waking him. He started when his captain suddenly moved on his side and fell on his behind. A loud thud sounded and when Alfred looked up, he saw Arthur gazing back at him; alert, but tired.

"Oh… eh… good mornin'." Alfred helpfully said and Arthur glared, closing his eyes again before rolling back on his back. He brought his arms up and rubbed at his face, and Alfred looked at the blonde locks being ruffled slightly.

Alfred straightened up and looked down at his captain hesitatingly – should he leave? Probably. He moved lightly to indicate he was going to leave, when Arthur sighed and stretched out his arms again, before sitting up. Alfred's eyes involuntarily snapped back to his captain's open shirt, revealing white, milky skin and he blushed.

"So how is _your_ head, _birthday boy?_" Arthur said, and it sounded more angry than mocking. Alfred smiled lightly, but shrugged.

"Terrible." He answered solemnly, and Arthur smirked.

"I didn't expect otherwise. You consumed an unhealthy amount of alcohol back there."

"Ah, and yet you were more- nothing." Alfred quickly shut up at his captain's murderous glare, and he decided to just forget that as well. Almost everything on last night was black anyway.

"Why are you here?" Arthur suddenly asked as he slowly got out of his bed. Alfred noticed his shirt was no longer tucked in his shirt and it hung over his waist line slightly. His eyes travelled down further and noticed that without the coat, you could see his-

"I haven't the faintest idea." He replied tiredly, and Arthur raised an eyebrow at him before cocking his head to the left slightly. Arthur nodded and turned around, and to Alfred's greatest surprise started stripping himself from his shirt.

The shirt was halfway out and Alfred, ashamed, couldn't help but staring at his captain's back. It looked smooth, but it was marred with several scars, the one longer than the other. There was also one tattoo on his shoulder, a sunset with a bird flying above the water. He looked at it and wondered where else Arthur had scars or tattoos, when Arthur sighed, annoyed.

"And why are you _still _here?"

Alfred took the hint and quickly scrambled up, almost tripping on the carpet beneath his captain's bed, and quickly walked to the door, muttering an apology as he left the bedroom and looked around the other room.

The fresh air helped his headache a lot, and he found he could smile brightly again once he inhaled enough of the sharp, salty air. Some pirates were already back to work, but most of them were probably still sleeping their hangover out.

"Slept well, _da_?"

Crap. He couldn't use that at all, right now. Alfred's expression turned gloomy, and he turned around to face Ivan. He smiled sourly.

"Perfect, thank you." He replied as politely as he could, but he couldn't stay polite with Ivan for too long anyway.

"I wonder why the captain approves of you sleeping with him?"

Alfred frowned at him in confusion, before a realization dawned upon him. Ivan had been bullying him with Arthur for a while now. Apparently Ivan thought it strange that Arthur somehow trusted him so quickly (enough to choose him as a quartermaster) and that Alfred could walk in and out the captain's quarters if he felt like it.

Alfred hadn't known that you had to be summoned to enter, and he carefully walked to Arthur. Arthur showed no sign of disapproval, and he decided Ivan could suck it up, because it wasn't a bad thing.

But he knew why Ivan would think… Alfred froze and stared at him neutrally. He did sleep on the captain's couch this night. _Who knows _what he and the captain had done the night before? What if the crew had the same ideas?

Suddenly, Alfred felt a lot warmer and he bit his lip. He knew he was having strange and probably wrong thoughts about his captain lately, but that was really just because he wasn't used to the situation and Arthur, powerful and fearful as he may be, seemed the only safe option to turn to if he was in trouble.

And besides, Arthur wasn't ugly, which made it a lot easier to think he would be… attracted to him. Alfred shook his head, his headache presenting himself at the movement and he made a face at the sudden pain.

"Stop talking nonsense, Russian." Alfred sneered back at him, but he instantly knew the intense reaction was what Ivan had hoped for.

"Ah, no need to get defensive. What the captain does is his own business. I just look out for him and the crew, _da_?"

"That shit again? Really, Ivan, get a life. Don't you have work to do? Leave me the fuck alone." Alfred snapped and Ivan smiled at him, albeit angrily.

"Unlike you, _da_, I do my work properly and finish it all in time. That is what the captain wants after all."

Alfred had no idea why he suddenly got this angry. Normally it was just a little bullying and mocking, but right now he was incredibly angry. His anger only flared at the mention of their captain and he suddenly remembered how Ivan had called Arthur a pretty sunflower to himself while working. He had been disturbed by it, but Ivan was disturbing anyway, so it wasn't that strange for the nutcase to say that.

Suddenly, Alfred smirked playfully. "Are you jealous that _I_ spent the night with the captain, instead of _you?_"

It worked, Ivan's smile disappeared completely and made place for a very angry, cold grimace. "Take that back, _vy pedik_." Alfred knew the foreign words had to be an insult, and he snorted.

"Green isn't a pretty color on ya, Russki."

He had kind of anticipated it, and he wasn't completely taken by surprise when Ivan's fist shot out and grabbed him at his collar. Ivan was just a little bit bigger than Alfred, so he wasn't intimidated. Alfred growled and kneed him hard in his stomach.

"_Chert_-" Ivan groaned out, before quickly lashing out and punching Alfred hard on his shoulder. Alfred staggered back and stretched out his arm to grab Ivan by his own collar.

"Just drop dead!" Alfred shouted angrily, punching him hard on his face. Ivan fell down, but because of his hold on Alfred's arm, Alfred tumbled down with him. They rolled over the deck a little as they both exchanged punches and kicks randomly, trying to hurt the other as much as they could.

It took longer than usual but eventually they were broken apart. Ivan was grabbed roughly by Tim, and Alfred felt his arms being grabbed by the boatswain, Henry. He struggled to get free immediately.

"You damned russki! I will end you if you don't leave me the fuck alone!" Alfred cursed at him, and Ivan sneered at him with a big grin.

"You will be devoured by the kraken before you have the chance, _vy otmorozkov_!"

"Stop speaking in that retard language, you're on an English ship!" Alfred quickly shot back. He struggled some more before he was forcefully dragged away from the other. He glared at Ivan as he rubbed his cheek, being released once he had calmed down.

"Let me go." Alfred ordered sternly, and Henry had no choice to obey the quartermaster. Alfred shook free with an angry huff. "Go sweep some decks will ya? Damn…" Alfred turned away from him and headed for the upper deck. He kicked at the ground angrily and leant on the railings, looking at the sea.

He stayed there until his captain appeared above deck. He didn't offer him a glance or greeting and Arthur apparently didn't seem to mind, as he continued walking to the steering wheel. He faintly heard him talk with Tim and sighed, closing his eyes.

He hated it when Ivan was right about something. He _had _been having horrible thoughts about his captain and Ivan had known, and despite his giddy feelings he knew he was sick in the head. Even though he knew this, he couldn't help but smile brightly once his captain tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention.

Vy pedik – you faggot  
>Chert – Damn<br>Vy otmorozkov – you scumbag

**R&R :D **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Loanda was a pretty lively harbour. There were lots of ships docked here, it was one of the few last stops before ships would take on a bigger journey, to South America or to New England. At the same time, there were lots of people in the village as well.

Many merchants trying to sell their goods to the people and pirates passing by. Most pirates didn't feel the need to hide themselves, but Alfred had seen a few marine's walking by as well. After he'd gone and ask why they didn't put on another flag, he was explained that they wouldn't be here long enough to actually get caught.

According to them, the next real marine base was a little more than a week's travel away from here. They would only stay, perhaps, five days in Loanda, so even if someone alerted the marine base they would be long gone already. Still, he was warned not to go out alone unarmed because the single marines out there didn't hesitate to try and capture someone anyway.

Because of the bounties. Alfred was slightly curious, he knew his captain and some people of this ship must have a bounty. He wondered how high they were. They must be higher than usual, he'd heard people saying that Arthur and three other captains were quite notorious. Of course they weren't the only four, but Alfred had only really paid attention to the names he knew.

Alfred, who was leaning over the railing and casually looking around, had noticed quite some ships. He noticed the Frenchman's ship, probably to his captain's displeasure. There was no sign of the Scarlet Fiesta thankfully. There had been several other English pirate ships, and one or two with flags he didn't recognize.

Also, Loanda had a lot more to offer than the other docks they've been. Slightly embarrassed, Alfred averted his eyes from the second prostitute to have noticed him looking around and who was waving him over. It was a pity, the girl was a pretty brunette and she probably wasn't even as old as Mattie.

He sighed and smiled a little when he thought of his family, before he turned around and shuffled around looking for something to do.

As soon as Alfred entered the weaponry, he noticed the little group huddled around the few bottles of rum and he was quickly pulled to their midst.

"Ya've a sweetheart at home, Alfie?" Alfred ignored the annoying nickname and shook his head. He briefly thought of the girl he was supposed to marry, Hannah, but she wasn't his sweetheart. For some ridiculous reason, a blonde head with enormous eyebrows popped in, and he blushed, willing the image away by thinking of blood (_always effective_).

"Ya're blushin', me friend!"

"Y'see… It's a subject of a delicate nature." Alfred settled on saying, hoping he would be done with it.

"She left ya, mate?"

"No way!" Alfred shouted out before stopping and smiling embarrassingly. He left her, actually… but whatever. "Why the interest?"

"Oh, time flies when yer havin' Rum. It seems yesterday I had to deal with bloody mermaids, and now that we're dockin' at here and soon headin' to the Caribbean. We'll be dealin' with lots of them! My wee heart is needin' some more rum to heal from that ol' time."

Really. Mermaids. Alfred looked at them seriously before bursting out into laughter and they laughed along, before seriously asking what the hell was wrong. "Mermaids?" Alfred asked and they confirmed. "That's a folklore guys."

"A folklore? Tell ya what, Alfie, in these here seas there are lots of creatures! The kraken, mermaids, faeries-"

"And they are all _stories._" Alfred sighed, and the other men laughed at him, making remarks about his oblivion. "You ain't scaring me with those stories, beggars." He told them, trying to keep in a pouty face and the other men snorted, one of them slapping him on his back.

After drinking a glass or two and getting ridiculed because he didn't believe it, Alfred stumbled out of the weaponry, glaring behind him every once and then. He saw his captain standing motionlessly at the steering wheel and nodded, walking over to him and smiling brightly.

Arthur ignored him completely and looked ahead of himself almost dreamily, though he still looked threatening, stern and thoroughly bored. Alfred figured he was dreaming about other things though, he knows the look and he was starting to know his captain a little.

"Cap'n?" Alfred said cheerfully, getting attention. "Whatd'- What do you think about mermaids?" He asked, quickly catching himself on the wrong grammar. He knew Arthur hated it and tried to hold onto respectable English as well.

"What of them?"

"Why's everyone so riled up about them? They don't exist."

"Mermaids? Of course they exist. You might meet them in the Caribbean. They're not common in these parts." Arthur scoffed and Alfred face palmed. The same the old ragbags told him.

"They exist. Like the kraken? Really, captain, maybe ya should lay down on the-" At the glance in his captain's eyes he wisely shut up and Arthur sighed, before motioning for him to step aside so he could walk down the stairs.

Quickly, Alfred walked after him and smiled politely when Arthur kept an eye on him as they made their way to the railings on the deck.

"In England, mermaids are unlucky omens. They foretell disaster and provoke it. They tell ships they will never see land again, while others believe they are a sign of rough weather. Some even said he saw a monstrous big mermaid." Arthur started educationally, and Alfred rolled his eyes. Fish-women didn't exist, it was just another silly folklore.

"I once heard a story of a man who would've drowned if one of his servants didn't pull him back from the river."

"That story probably holds more truth than others. Mermaids are known for deceiving the hearts of sorry idiots. They drag them down the sea once they are completely compelled."

"And what about the stories where mermaids teach humans cures and other stuff?"

"It is said that happens as well." Arthur admitted. Alfred frowned; Arthur genuinely seemed to believe the whole mermaid deal. "In China, a mermaid's tears are very valuable. They produce pearls from their tears and weave a translucent material." He said softly, looking away. "The mermaids are dangerous in China as well. Their singing puts a spell on a sailor and drags them into a mindless state."

"Sailors only?" Alfred inquired curiously. Even if he didn't believe it, Arthur did seem to know a lot and it was always interesting to learn something. Arthur smiled lightly at him and shrugged, something that made him appear a lot younger than he probably was and Alfred felt his heart clench lightly (_ridiculous._)

"Mermaids are supposed to be deft, beautiful and versatile. Sailors or pirates seem to be after these three characteristics half of their time. For them it is easier to deceive a sailor than a married man or woman, but that too happens."

Alfred nodded and bit his lip to not suddenly chuckle randomly. "But then, why are we sailing their way? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Only for the weak hearts." He replied, looking ahead of him at the blue-grey seas behind the ship. Alfred nodded and wondered if anyone on the ship had a weak heart, but he decided that lots of them must be easy to delude. Certainly if the object that does the deceiving has boobs. "Do you have a weak heart, Alfred?" Arthur suddenly asked, gazing at Alfred intensely.

Alfred gulped and shrugged. "I…don't know. I guess not."

"You guess not." Arthur repeated, nodding and looking ahead of himself again. He sighed and crossed his arms. "You better get a strong heart then. I don't personally care about anyone's welfare on this ship, but I would prefer to actually keep a quartermaster or first mate longer than a year now."

Alfred raised his eyebrows at the first insult thrown, though he knew it was a weak insult judging by the last few words. "Well, if you care not, then I suppose I can just as well let myself go right now, not?" Alfred said back playfully, though Arthur wasn't amused.

Arthur scowled. "As I said, Jones, I don't care. Do as you want." With that he turned around sharply and walked over the plank towards the vast ground, not sparing him another look. Alfred frowned, unhappy. His captain should care about his crew, after all.

"Have it your way." Alfred muttered, turning around to address his crew. "We're not here to party, men." At the sour tone, everyone looked up and whined. "All right you are, but get everything in order first." He looked around for Reggie and couldn't find him, so he decided to give the orders. "Let's just start the day by stocking the supplies, eh?"

He couldn't really care about any other orders and figured Reggie or Arthur would return to kick the crew's ass and get them to work. Some of them continued the jobs they'd been given earlier and Alfred slumped over the rails again, wondering what he should do for the rest of the day.

"You're getting lazy."

Alfred rose his head and met eyes with Ivan, and he frowned. "Not in the mood, Russki."

"I'm not here to start a fight." Ivan said calmly, smiling. "We are all a little anxious, we won't be stopping to dock after this week for a long time."

Aha, anxious, right. Alfred knew that if something happened while they were on an open sea like that, they would most likely have to hurry or just accept they were going to sink. "I don't think we should worry a lot." He replied. If Arthur even planned to sail the Pirate Round one day, he had to have good skills in planning and foreseeing. He _is _a formidable pirate after all.

"True. But people worry nonetheless. It's in their nature."

"And not in yours?"

Ivan shrugged. "I don't worry about trivial things. We die, we die. We don't, then we don't." Easy said, hardly done. Alfred smiled a little and nodded, knowing he shouldn't worry. He did though, but not about his life or something. The threat of death from his first fight earlier on had punched sense into him – he wanted to see his siblings. At least before he would die or something. And he had _so much _he still wanted to do. He couldn't simply waste his life in the seas.

"Yeah whatever. Wanna go for a drink?" Alfred proposed, and Ivan shrugged, agreeing. While they weren't on best terms, they decided being something like drinking or 'sparring' partners couldn't hurt, so they now regularly got wasted together or fought each other when one of them was tense.

Later in the evening, when Alfred and Ivan returned to the ship, the crew was oddly silent and Alfred soon discovered why. Arthur was standing in front of someone who was on his knees, and he squinted his eyes to see who it was. He had absolutely no idea but he soon saw it was a kid, perhaps on his way to be a teenager, and he hurried forward quickly. Reggie was talking to Arthur, but Arthur would have none of it.

"Some bratty child thinks he can come onto my ship and _steal? _Who do you think we are, Frenchman?"

Alfred snorted at the comment but came closer, seeing his captain held a gun to the kids head. "Woah! Captain, put that away!" Alfred quickly said, jumping before the kid quickly. Arthur frowned, glaring daggers at him and aiming the gun to his head.

"Get out of my way, Jones."

"Hell no. I won't let you kill a child! What do you think you're doing!"

"He tried to steal." Arthur said, dead seriously and Alfred scoffed.

"So! It's a child, he probably won't have half a mind of what he was doing." He said, defending the poor being behind him and Arthur clicked his gun off the protection mode.

"Jones, I'm not warning you again. No one has ever gotten away with this, and I will certainly not make an exception."

Alfred glared back as hard as he could, seeing Reggie smile at him a little from his stand behind the captain. "You'll have to get through me first, sir."

There was a long, stretched silence, and Alfred blinked. The moment he did, Arthur hit him on the head with the butt of the pistol harshly, and Alfred whirled to the side, yelping in surprise. He quickly scrambled up to protect the kid, but Arthur had already grabbed him by his shirt.

"If I _ever _see you again, you're done. Get lost." Arthur sneered at the young boy. The kid gulped, and nodded, and as soon as Arthur dropped him to the ground he sped away like a little mouse. Arthur glared after him, before looking at the crew. "What are you looking at! Get your asses to work."

The crew got back to work as quick as the kid had disappeared and Reggie sighed, walking away. Alfred rubbed his head tenderly, leaning on the rails tiredly. Thank god, he'd been able to convince his captain. He realized, as soon as Arthur laid eyes on him, that the trouble wasn't over yet, though.

Arthur walked over to him, his gun still in his hand. "Jones, you've put me in an incredible foul mood. Give me one reason to not shoot you in the head." He threatened, twirling the gun in his hand and Alfred looked away, hoping he'd get a submissive look across.

"I don't have any reason, but killing kids for such a tiny act is horrible."

"So are pirates." Arthur rebutted smartly, cocking his head to the side a little. "We don't have a policy of women and children first, Jones. We're most concerned about ourselves. And I'm most concerned about my ship. If you dare bother me again, I will kill you." Arthur finished, turning around to walk away.

Alfred chuckled. "You've said that _so _many times."

At his remark, Arthur had moved so fast that Alfred didn't even have time to react. "I hope you can swim." Arthur whispered in his ear, before pushing him. Alfred's eyes widened as he realized that beneath him was only sea, and he quickly held his nose as he collided with the water.

He coughed as he surfaced, the salt water stinging his eyes. He looked upwards and noticed Arthur leaning on the railings, smirking. "Hurry up Jones. The entrance towards land," he cocked his head over to the docks for the small boats ",closes soon."

Alfred glared, shaking his head, before quickly swimming over to the docks on the right. He pulled himself up on it, ignoring the amused looks of the people working there, and shook his hair. He took a deep breath and calmly walked back towards the Emerald Dragon, boarding the ship again. Some crewmates snickered at him and he ignored them completely, walking over to the captain. He considered pushing the captain too, but he wouldn't get away with it alive.

Arthur chuckled as he saw the drenched appearance of his quartermaster. "Well, well, Jones, it seems you know how to swim. Now, I order you to sleep outside in those clothes tonight. Don't think I won't know if you go inside. Oh, and you're on arrest from going out."

Alfred bit his cheek. He would most likely get sick or something and that was dangerous if he was sailing on a ship for a long period. Either way, he sucked it up and nodded. "Of course sir."

"How docile you are all of a sudden." Arthur said sweetly. "Did the water cool your head?"

"I had a wonderful swim, I recommend it." Alfred replied dully, and Arthur smirked. Arthur disappeared into his quarters together with Reggie after that and Alfred, not knowing what to do, decided to help out with the crew until work would be dropped, mentally preparing for a very cold night.

**X.X**

Alfred woke up with a sneeze somewhere in the middle of the night and frowned distastefully. He noticed his clothes had dried, but he was cold as hell. He rubbed his hands to warm them up, and glared at the captain's quarters while he was at it. Stuck up captain with his big eyebrows.

"Don't glare at a door, Jones."

Alfred started and he almost wanted to roll away from impending danger, before realizing who it was and he gave a sour look at the deck above him, where Arthur was sitting on the rails and observing him with an amused look.

"Not having your beauty sleep, Captain?"

"I was having too much fun watching yours, Jones. You were shivering like a virgin woman." Arthur said with a laugh, before he swung his legs over the railings and quietly walked down the stairs. He smirked at Alfred, shaking his head. "You are a fool for actually sleeping outside."

"What happened to 'I'll end you if you don't follow my orders'?" Alfred joked, sneezing and Arthur shook his head amusingly.

"If you went inside, I'd have ended you. If you stayed outside, a lung infection would've ended you. Which would you prefer, quick or slow?"

"I don't actually like to die, you know. Unlike Davy Jones." Alfred said with frown and Arthur shrugged.

"Do you even have spare clothes?"

"Nah. Reggie borrowed me a shirt when my old one was ruined in the fight." He realized he also didn't earn any money, so he wasn't really able to go and buy one – and he didn't really like stealing all that much.

Arthur sighed. "Get rid of that shirt, Alfred. It's useless." Alfred wanted to complain that it dried already, but he was too tired to do so and pulled the shirt off quickly, crossing his arms over his chest. Arthur smiled lightly and shrugged off his coat, dropping it onto his quartermaster.

Alfred started at the unexpected, warm heavy weight of the coat, and looked up at his captain.

"Tomorrow, you'll come with me to town. I'll buy you a new shirt, seeing you don't prefer the policy of _'stealing'_ either?" It was to be an insult, Alfred knew, because this proved he sucked at being a pirate. But seeing Alfred didn't really want to be a pirate, Alfred smiled brightly.

"Sure. Thanks." He wiggled himself into the coat, happy to find it fit. He was a lot broader than his captain but he supposed the coat had to be a little bigger, so even if he thought it'd fit, it'd actually be too small.

"Now go inside and sleep." Arthur said, turning around to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Alfred asked, confusingly, when he noticed Arthur wasn't heading for his quarters but rather to the plank connecting the ship to land.

Arthur waved his hand. "I have business with Berwald." He said shortly, before walking down the plank and out of Alfred's sight. Alfred sighed, a little relieved it was Berwald – he was on good terms with the British captain after all. Not that he was concerned for the bastard though, the jerk toppled him off the ship.

Still, Alfred couldn't help but smile like an idiot as he pulled the coat closer around himself. It was _so warm, _and it smelled all right, and it was _warm. _

* * *

><p><strong><span>R&amp;R! :D<span>**


	10. Chapter 10

**THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY CHEESY, HIDE OR SOMETHING. CHEESY PLUS PIRATE EQUALS WHAT.  
>Enjoy anyway<strong>

**Chapter 10 **

"Well, shiver me timbers!"

Alfred looked up at the rather weird quote and looked around to see a brown haired male look at their ship with surprise. He frowned as the male started laughing quietly, before heading for the plank to go aboard. Alfred sighed and cleared his throat. "Excuse me." He said, getting the boy's attention. Green eyes met his own blue eyes in confusion.

"Yes?"

"Who are you?" Alfred decided to ask politely, and the boy turned around fully.

"Eli. And you?" Eli smiled gently and cocked his head a little, looking at him. Alfred's expression relaxed as he introduced himself. "Where's your captain? I hope he's on the ship. Well, I hoped to see him last time I had the chance, in Spain, but you guys were gone so quickly and no one _ever _told me that the Emerald Dragon was on dock too! Well, actually, Francis did, but I never believe that smug bastard when he's saying something, and besides, Roderich didn't know how busy he was keeping me with all chores he was making me do around the town! I barely got to meet little Romano, and I-"

"Eli!" Alfred was half happy for the interruption, starting to get lost in the never ending rant the boy produced. Eli stopped abruptly and blinked. He waved over to another male with dark brown hair and a blue suit, who shook his head before turning around.

"Well that's my queue to go! Tell Arthur I said hi, all right? Bye!"

"Eh.. yeah, bye." Alfred waved halfheartedly, watching the boy run over to the other male. Odd, perhaps that boy had a late puberty. Alfred snickered at his somewhat insulting thought and turned around, picking up one of the boxes of supplies that needed to go to the ship.

After he and some of the crew loaded all of the boxes on board, Reggie continued telling them what to do and not, and even though he probably meant this for Alfred too, Alfred let his mind wander and looked at the dry harbor called Loanda.

He spent a few more hours working and dreaming of lazily, wondering how it would be in New England. He had heard stories from home but he had never really imagined he would be going there. Sure, he didn't want to stay on a pirate ship forever… but being on a ship opened so many possibilities for him. He could go to so many places!

As a kid he once dreamt of joining the navy, to be a hero. But once the navy started executing pirates in his own home town as well, he disliked the idea and went back to the idea of just growing up and doing something good. He had been horrified, his father had dragged him away as soon as possible but he had already seen the pirates who fell through the floor and were hung, and the crowd cheering. There had even been someone only slightly older than him! All accused of piracy and treachery.

He had worse memories of the huge fight that followed between his parents, his mother accusing his father for taking him, a six-year old, to such a place. His mother had kept him and his brother in inside for _days _until the executions ended.

But… pirates weren't any better, he knew. They also killed in cold blood. They were probably the same as the navy. Everyone's always so happy about the navy. But Alfred knew that they probably stole and murdered just as much as the pirates. Each of them was just trying to save his own skin.

Again he questioned what kind of pirate ship this was. Alfred bit the inside of his cheeks, frustrated that he was unknowing as it was. And the French captain seemed pretty tolerable too. Absolutely weird, but not unkind. And the Spaniard was a huge jerk ass, but he saw the Italian look at him with barely contained fondness he tried to cover up with insulting him.

He sighed and looked to his captain, talking to Reggie a few meters to his left. Arthur had been ready to kill a child the other day, and that was horrible. But he still believed Arthur was like those other captains – weird and a jerk, but not unkind. He wondered if he would have killed the child. He had a little brother once, right? And he had been hurt when Alfred asked him about it. Or angry, at least he showed regret for it.

And then there was Berwald. He didn't seem a pirate _at all._ He was more a man who just sailed the seas for fun and didn't bother holding himself to the rules, but he could hardly believe a man like him and Tino have _ever _murdered someone just for money or goods. Especially not Tino.

He sighed and straightened up when Arthur stopped talking to Reggie, and noticed him. He smiled brightly as the captain came over and nodded at him.

"Good afternoon, cap'n."

"Likewise. Let's go get some spare clothes." He said amusingly, nodding at Alfred's oversized shirt. Alfred looked down. He had borrowed one of Ivan's shirts but found that the shirt was too big – Ivan was bigger than him so it was logical. "I expect you to work for the money though." Arthur commented once they were wandering in town.

Alfred scoffed. "I already work." He said and Arthur smirked. "But yeah, sure, whatever. Thanks a bunch though." His captain didn't reply and instead nodded over to the a shop.

"Go in there, it's a tailor's shop. Get some shirts. I'll be back in an hour."

Alfred frowned. He didn't know why he had expected the captain to come with him, but he had, and he covered up his disappointment by a bright smile and he nodded, bidding his captain goodbye and going in the shop.

Inside there were two people, one of them browsing casually and a girl sitting at a counter knitting something. At his entrance, she looked up and smiled sweetly.

"Hello! Can I help you?"

A little put off with the fact his tailor was probably going to be a petite girl like that, Alfred cleared his throat and looked at the other man in the shop. He was still looking around tiredly. "Oh, don't mind him. That's Heracles, he comes here when he has nothing to do!"

… That wasn't strange or anything. Alfred wondered why his captain appointed him to this shop in particular. "Eh… right. I need some shirts." He looked at himself. "And… I guess new trousers too." Why the hell not, the captain paid for him anyway.

The girl smiled and nodded. "That's right, you look absolutely horrible in that." Alfred raised his eyebrows. "But don't worry, I can help you with that. Where are you going?"

"Eh?"

"Sailing too? You're Kirkland's new quartermaster right? I never did quite catch where he was going, because, my brother never really lets me talk to any of you pirates, but now that you're my customer, I suppose it can't hurt!"

Alfred gaped. "Whoa, wait, who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Lily Zwingli! Pardon for my rudeness. I know captain Kirkland from captain Beilschmidt! His brother used to be friends with my brother and captain Kirkland was friends with captain Beilschmidt so I know them – well I don't really know them-"

"Lily."

Alfred started at the incredibly soft spoken word and Lily shut up immediately, blushing brightly. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I start rambling when I'm not really comfortable – not that you make me uncomfortable! I just ..."

"It's okay." Alfred quickly assured. He decided to just handle this differently so he would be done earlier, and leant down on the counter, smiling at the girl with as much charm as he could muster. "Could you be a dear and help me?"

The blonde girl looked at him and blushed, nodding. "Sure! I'll get my stuff! Just a minute!" She darted off quickly and Alfred snickered, exchanging a glance with the apathetic guy still standing on the other side of the room.

Lily soon returned with a tape-measure, scissors, and other accessories. "Right, please come with me!" She ushered him into a room and directed him to stand on a stool. "I'll begin with measurements for your trousers, then I'll start with the measurements for your shirts. After that you can go or wait here while I'm having them tailored. It takes quite a while though so waiting would be… long." Lily finished, smiling apologetically again.

"Really, I don't mind you talking." Alfred said with a wink. He forgot about charming as she smiled sweetly and yanked his trousers down, leaving him in his underwear, and he yelped indignantly. Well, he didn't expect it, but how else was she going to take measurements? It was funny she blushed from his smile and not from this, though she probably did this more often.

"Thank you for putting up with me." Lily said once she started. "My brother doesn't let me out much and I don't get much customers because I…" she trailed off and scoffed. "Because I'm a girl." Alfred cocked his head and her and she shrugged. "Lots of women tailor, yes, but somehow they think it's horrible I'm a tailor. Or perhaps my brother has something to do with it."

"Your brother sounds like a scary guy." Alfred eventually mentioned and Lily giggled.

"He's really kind, but he's protective."

The next few minutes were spent in silence and Alfred started getting cramps, but Lily didn't allow him to move. She had to take quite some measurements and when she was done, he was interrogated in which color, or kind he wanted it, and once he exclaimed he had no idea he was once again assured she'll take care of it.

He had been forced to take off his shirt and sourly looked ahead of himself as Lily started on the measurements on his chest and arms.

"I'll make some warm shirts too. For the nights. Wouldn't want you to get a cold? Now where did you say you were going ?"

"Eh… we'll be heading to the Caribbean first, then to New England. And I don't really know a lot more."

"And where did you come from? You don't have any particular accent."

"I'm from England. But neither do you, where are you from?"

"Oh, I used to live in Liechtenstein. It's a country in Europe. I almost died though, from famine, but my brother saved me! Then I lived in Switzerland. But my brother befriended captain Beilschmidt's brother and we sailed over to here, before they got a fight."

They heard a door open and close and Lily sighed, standing up straight, ready to deal with the new customer. Said customer walked in the room they were in by himself though, and Alfred gave his captain a surprised look. Had an hour already passed? That went pretty quick.

"You're looking as lovely as ever, Lily."

"It's nice seeing you, Arthur." Lily said politely, smiling at him and continuing measuring Alfred again. "Alfred, I can either make the shirts right now where you're standing and use you as the doll, or I can make them-"

"Make them separately. We have other plans." Arthur interrupted and Lily flushed embarrassingly, nodding.

"Of course." She finished quickly and handed Alfred his shirt back. He slipped it on quickly, somewhat uncomfortable with both his captain and the petite girl in the room while he was half naked.

"Thanks a lot, Lily." Alfred said sweetly and Lily smiled shyly.

"Oh it's nothing. Come back tomorrow?" He nodded and looked at Arthur, who was looking at the silent man with the same apathetic look. Suddenly Arthur shrugged and walked out of the shop. Alfred smiled at Lily again, following, before hearing Lily say to the man that Sadieck or something was probably done with his work by now.

Once outside he quickly caught up with his captain and he chuckled. "You sure know a lot of people, cap'n."

"Of course I do." Arthur replied, somewhat annoyed. "It wouldn't be good for a captain to not know many people."

"Well it's still great to know so many people." Alfred stuck to it stubbornly and Arthur smirked at him, shaking his head.

"It comes with the job I guess." He replied eventually. They kept walking in silence and after an hour or so, Alfred started to feel a little thirsty and decided to just announce his thoughts. Arthur completely ignored him when he asked how long they were going to walk anyway and Alfred scoffed, looking around. The buildings gradually disappeared and were replaced by vegetation or just bare land, a few houses here and there but nothing like back at the harbor. They started a climb up and Alfred felt close to just turning around and going back because he had absolutely no idea what the point of this was-

Unless Arthur was going to show him something _really _interesting. His interest was piqued immediately and all kinds of sceneries played in his head. Perhaps the ruins of some town? Or a ship? Perhaps a whole new town? Maybe a place with ghosts!

He wouldn't really like that actually.

Alfred gulped and hoped Arthur wasn't bringing them to a haunted house. He absolutely hated ghosts and the like and he wouldn't want to show that kind of behavior in front of Arthur.

"Eh… captain?" Alfred started out unsurely, wondering how he could talk the idea out of his captain's head. Perhaps he should just take a run for it.

At the hesitation in his voice, Arthur looked at him briefly. "Hm?"

"Where are we going?"

Arthur smirked, looking it around. Alfred did the same and saw they didn't have to climb any further, as the road would keep straight from here on. They both stopped walking and Alfred looked around again.

"There's nothing here." He said, panting slightly from the climb up. Arthur raised his eyebrows, the smile still on his face. He didn't seem very tired from the climb but that was only expected. Arthur nodded at the space behind him.

"I wouldn't say there was nothing."

Once Alfred turned around, he was momentarily stunned by the sight. He noticed how high up they were from that climb, and he could see all the way to the docks, the sea, and parts of the country sides. It was rather overwhelming, seeing everything at once, and he breathed in deeply.

"Eh… sir?" Alfred asked, dumbfounded at the beautiful scenery in front of him. Even though they were pretty far out, he could still see their ship in the distance and the people move around like ants.

"I heard you talking about silly dreams where you soared in the sky like some bloody bird. It corresponds with your love to man the steering wheel. From what I gathered you liked overseeing things, such as this."

Alfred stared at him. That was uncharacteristically kind of him. Instead of questioning it, Alfred gave his brightest smile of the day and nodded enthusiastically, turning his head to look at everything. He wasn't as high as he indeed dreamt of sometimes, but this was pretty high too.

"This is fantastic," Alfred said and Arthur nodded quietly, looking down for a moment before staring ahead, at the seas again. As always, Arthur's heart seemed to lie at the seas. He smiled as he looked at his captain, who concentrated fully on the blue-grey seas.

Eventually Arthur turned and caught his gaze, and Alfred smile guiltily, knowing he was caught staring. Arthur didn't reply, facially or verbally, and instead just cocked his head to one side as he neutrally looked at his quartermaster.

Snorting, Alfred sat down on the road and closed his eyes, propping his legs up and leaning on them with his elbows. A few seconds later he heard some shuffling and knew Arthur had probably done the same.

Suddenly, Alfred felt a warm touch on his head that slowly went to his hairline and he tensed, quickly opening his eyes to look at his captain. Arthur smirked.

"Your hair needs a cut. It's getting too long." Alfred made a non-committal sound and wondered exactly why Arthur would feel the need to play with his hair, but he didn't protest and instead relaxed again. To be honest, it felt rather nice. He flinched as the glove on his captain's hand glided along his skin, and a completely insane idea struck him (_when didn't it)_ and he opened his eyes, taking his captain's hand. Arthur stiffened, but let Alfred pull the glove off.

Giving a hint, Alfred cheekily put the hand back on his head and he heard his captain snort, as if he were petting a dog that had done something to be proud off. Arthur's hand cradled the back of his head lightly and Alfred leaned in, only to jerk away from the hand when he felt two legs on either side of his own, pressing against his own lightly.

"C-captain?" Alfred stuttered, shocked. He hadn't anticipated this, why did Arthur think it was okay to go from touching his head to _this_? Well, not that he minded, the warmth was pleas-

Arthur smirked down at him and for a moment Alfred thought he was just joking, but this was _his captain_, he didn't joke around unless he would put a bullet in your head a few minutes later.

_Oh god. _He wasn't going to kill him, was he? He did have his gun in his belt but he wouldn't be in time, because he can't just randomly grab his gun and aim because Arthur would have his head, and he would be too late if Arthur already decided to have his head!

Arthur leaned in and Alfred's heart fluttered at the sight of those intense green eyes set on him. "Stay still, captain's orders." Arthur whispered gently at him, and all Alfred could do was nod and look at him helplessly. Alfred actually smiled at him, in the way that only increased the already rising temperature.

Arthur again placed his hand on Alfred's hair, his fingers tugging at the cowlick, and as Alfred was about to comment on the ridiculousness of that, Arthur leaned down and he could feel his captain's warm breath on his face. He wanted to bury his face and shout how stupid this was, but all he could focus on were Arthur's green eyes, which were steadily coming closer.

He was still locked onto those eyes when Arthur's lips descended upon his. They felt rough and chapped, unlike any of the girls he had kissed before.

Then something else, something important, hit him. Arthur was a _guy_. He was kissing a _guy._ It wasn't soft but it was gentle, but not as gentle as innocent, scared girls, and he remained unresponsive. Arthur was leaning on him slightly, and he felt small against his own body. He didn't have any curves, wasn't particularly soft, but he felt tiny and fragile, and it endeared him. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes, pressing back. It didn't matter that Arthur was a guy, Arthur was tiny and gentle, fragile and strong…

Arthur tensed when Alfred kissed back, and then relaxed completely. The weight on Alfred's chest increased and he itched to wrap his arms around the small back of his captain, but he didn't know if his captain would approve or not, so he decided to wait a little.

He was kissed more roughly now, and he tried to keep it up, but knew his captain would like to be the boss over this anyway, even if Alfred could easily roll them around now. He might get shot for that, as well. He shivered as he felt his captain's hands wove through his hair, and took it as a sign to move as well. He carefully circled his arms around the lower back of Arthur, who tensed again, but relaxed far quicker than before.

Suddenly he felt something wet touch his lip and he widened his eyes. Arthur, who had been watching him, broke away and smirked. "Something wrong?"

"Eh… I… no?"

"Good." Arthur replied, dipping down again and this time, forcing his tongue in his mouth and he blinked, tensing up at the unfamiliar intrusion. There was a harsh tug on his cowlick and he winced, noticing the intruding tongue was rubbing against his own slowly. He experienced a little, mimicking the movements and found it wasn't all that weird.

His movements caused another reaction from his small captain, who again moved against him rougher and at the same time slower. Alfred felt like his mouth was being mapped out and was slightly overwhelmed, his eyes closing as he tried to breathe through his nose.

The pressure on his chest lessened while the pressure on his legs and crotch increased, and he noticed that one of his captain's hands still cradled Alfred's head, while the other supported the owner at the ground. Alfred broke away when he needed air too badly and couldn't keep up with breathing through his nose anymore.

Arthur smirked at him again, and Alfred blushed at the slightly swollen lips of his captain, knowing he undoubtedly had the same.

"Are you a virgin, Alfred?" Arthur asked him softly, slowly, and Alfred's blush deepened, stubbornly choosing to not reply. "I thought so." _Fuck_, how was he able to stay so composed? Didn't this feel the same for him? Or maybe he was just used to it.

Even though he was positive he had a death-hold on his captain, slowly the pressure and weight on him disappeared and Alfred looked at his captain confused, panting slightly. Arthur smirked and sat back casually.

"Sir?" Alfred asked quietly as Arthur didn't plan on making any movements. The captain blinked and his focus was back on the blonde before him.

"Yes?" Arthur said back amusingly.

Alfred looked at him incredulously. A few possible scenarios went off in his head and he blinked at his captain, who stared at him quietly. They sat in silence, listening to the occasional sounds that passed by them.

"You still surprise me, Alfred. Even when I thought I know you."

"I can safely say you were the one surprising me here..." He hesitated for a moment and looked away. "…Arthur."

His captain didn't say anything in response and he could feel the piercing green eyes burning holes in him, and he wondered if he wasn't allowed to call him by his first name that casually. "Cursed be thee, Alfred." Arthur said, and Alfred was surprised at the gentle tone of voice. He looked and saw Arthur looking back at the seas with an almost endearing look. He was just beginning to know his captain, or his captain seemed to change every day right before his eyes.

The endearing look disappeared and Arthur stood up abruptly, nodding at his quartermaster. "Get up. We should go back."

Alfred nodded, even though every fiber in his body told him to reach out, grab his captain and pull him back. Arthur had already turned around though, heading for the road back, and he sighed, following him quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>I'll let you guess who Eli is~ more information about Beilschmidt's etc later on~ I'm thinking about making a chapter out of Arthur's point of view. Or maybe Alfred asks Francis questions etc and we take a leap back in time.<strong>

**Lol lame I know. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

He hadn't known it was possible, but Alfred had another stroke of bad luck and grimly looked at his glass while his ears were being chattered off.

Seriously, it was _Arthur _the frenchy looked for. Why didn't he go and search for him and left Alfred alone?

He was growing rather seriously irritated. He and Ivan had had another fight, and Arthur therefore ordered both of them on night duty for two days in a row. Which meant, for the duller under us, that he had had so little sleep, he felt he could sleep a week. And the worst thing was that Ivan was handling it much better than him. He growled and downed his drink, interrupting the Frenchman in his speech of _l'amour _and whatnot.

"Okay Frenchy-pantsy, if you insist on talking with me and keeping me from my work, than let's talk about a subject worth talking about."

Francis raised his eyebrows, waving over to have their glasses refilled, and Alfred briefly wondered how come the captains had enough money to always pay for this. Arthur always did, Francis did. Wait a minute… he didn't remember seeing them paying often. He snorted at the sudden realization.

"About your captain you mean?"

Alfred frowned. "My captain? I was actually talking about New Engl- wait." Alfred caught himself, nearly slapping himself too. If Francis was willing to tell him about Arthur, why would he ruin it! Impulsive idiot he was. Francis smirked and Alfred glared.

"Hmmm personal information about _chèr _Arthur it is. How I love to gossip!" Francis said delightfully, clapping his hands together and Alfred almost wanted to deny this talk, but his curiosity got the better of him. After all, after the incident three days ago, he hadn't really talked to Arthur and he wondered if they were avoiding each other. He wasn't doing it on purpose, but he didn't do a lot of things on purpose, so he wasn't certain. "Oh, such a livid history to discuss!"

"Spare me the details." Alfred immediately added when he saw Francis getting way too into this. He didn't need to know them. Well, he wanted too.. but he didn't need to. Besides, if his captain ever found out… he'd be dead for sure, he thought with a grin. Who knew Francis would tell on him. Better keep it as safe as possible.

"What do you want to know exactly? You can ask uncle Francis anything!"

Alfred scowled at the mentioning of 'uncle' and stumbled over his thoughts. There was simply too much. "The Spaniard, Antonio? And you, or any of the other captains. And what is up with him and faeries and such?"

At the last, Francis choked in his drink and he hit the table twice, swallowing and bursting out in laughter. "He _still_ talks to faeries? This is _magnefique_! I'll have to use this on him. He's a dear, but this is too good." Alfred had a hard time picturing his captain being _a dear_, but sure, fine.

Francis leant back and looked up. "Hmm, Antonio and Gilbert then. I don't know a lot about the Swedish fellow, he doesn't talk to me for some reason!" What reason could that be. "But I guess me, ol' Arthur, Antonio and Gilbert met each other when we were still young, before we were captains!" He said with a cheeky grin. "Antonio and Arthur are each other's equals, I guess. That's why they're so competitive. I mean, nothing serious happened. No lovers stolen, no one harmed – well, there was this time Antonio tried to attack Arthur, and Arthur smashed him into the ground, but that was already after we all broke up. And no one has a problem with Gilbert, because he doesn't care if you do or not." Francis added with a laugh, shaking his head.

Alfred frowned. "And here I was thinking they mortally wounded one another…" He said sourly, his expectations not met.

"I guess the angry sex they had this one time sparked the tension a little." Francis added joyfully, and Alfred ended up coughing in his drink. "Just kidding. My, you're going to believe every word I said? Arthur and Antonio can barely stand each other, do you really think they'd get naked and do the dirty? _Mon dieu._"

"Don't play stupid tricks, Frenchie. It's hard to believe they're only competitive." Alfred scoffed.

"I'm terribly sorry, Jones-y." Francis replied, returning the gesture of nicknaming. "There's nothing more to it though. When we were still all together, they damned each other and set the other up in a trap, and then they'd save each other's asses because Ludwig would threaten them. _Ce n'est pas_ _sérieux._"

Alfred tried to imagine the whole story, but he didn't really believed it. Hell, Arthur had been willing to hurt Antonio just because Antonio hurt one of his crew. Or maybe that was just child's play for them too, Alfred wouldn't know a thing about it anyway.

"As for me! I've known Arthur since he boarded good old Setting Friday." Francis continued. "He was thirteen then. How tiny he was compared to what he is now!" He dreamed off and Alfred raised an eyebrow, not able to picture a boy version of his captain either. "We stayed on that ship for four years after he boarded. We had reached Seychelles, our end destination, and met up with Gilbert and Antonio there."

So it took Arthur a year to become captain huh… not very long. Alfred slumped forward slightly, twirling his half empty glass between his fingers. "You guys aren't all that special, are you?" He eventually muttered, and Francis smiled.

"We're just ordinary pirates who happen to have high bounties." Francis admitted. "If I were you, I would not think about it too much. Don't hurt your little head." He playfully pestered, and Alfred glared half-heartedly. "I would steer clear of Antonio's and Gilbert's path though. They're not people you necessarily have to know."

"And you are?"

"Ohonhon, but _chèr _Alfred, I'm everything you need and more! Now how about joining my-"

"Nuhuh." Alfred stuck out his tongue and Francis pouted, shrugging.

"Arthur always had a good grip on the people he called his anyway." Francis said with a smile. "What are you going to do once you reach New England?" Alfred looked at him confused, not really understanding the sudden question. "Didn't you want to try and flee once you arrived there?"

Alfred slowly sat up, not breaking eye contact. Damn, if his captain found out he _still _wanted to flee, who knew what kinda job he would have to do then.

"Oh Alfred, Arthur already knows you're out as soon as you set foot in New England." Francis said amusingly. "Or are you not so sure anymore?"

Alfred grimaced. He had never been good at hiding thoughts or plans anyway. He sat back again and relaxed, looking away from the Frenchman. "I don't know. We'll see." He provided lazily. Francis nodded, not bothered by Alfred standing up. "Well, I'm leaving. Thanks." Francis waved his hand in the air carelessly, watching the younger leave.

XXX

Arthur had always been aware of his ability to make himself look as intimidating as possible. Francis never seemed to have trouble embarrassing him completely and ignoring Arthur's sharp green eyes and features – but other people had to try harder.

Next to the light haired German, Ludwig was busy trying to calm down a little Italian Arthur happened across on his way here. While Feliciano wasn't really something to get angry at, but Arthur had been simply seduced by the frightened look in the brown eyes and couldn't help himself.

He grinned at the Italian, who yelped, and Ludwig glared at him, but Arthur turned his attention back to Gilbert.

"Now what?" He asked casually, sitting down on the chair opposite of the German and Gilbert grinned.

"You're heading to New England, right?" Arthur nodded once. "Sweet! Me and Francis as well. Antonio's being a dumbass, going to Seychelles again." He scoffed, and Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"And you are always being a dumbass. What do you want in New England?"

"But Artie, you know I never know what I want. All I know is that I do not want to stay here, kesesese."

Arthur sighed at the antics of his friend and absentmindedly started twirling with a button on his coat. His mind drifted off to New England and the things he could discover there, the life out there. Surely it must be different than here. He wondered if it was better than England, too.

"Are you going to settle down there?" Gilbert asked suddenly, and Arthur grimaced. Settling down. It had been something he wished for before he was a captain, but he wasn't so sure now. Why should he settle down? How, where, and perhaps even with who? He loved the seas, why would he give up on that? Besides, his bounty would exist until he was caught, so settling down was only dangerous.

"You?" Arthur gave as reply, and Gilbert shrugged.

"_Ich weiß nicht._ Seems like Eli and Roderich want too, though, so they'll probably bail by then." Arthur instinctively looked over the aforementioned woman. Eli was sitting on the ground, reading a book. Upon feeling eyes on herself, she looked up and smiled brightly at Arthur. He nodded and returned his attention to Gilbert. "And I don't know about Ludwig."

Ludwig snapped his head up to attention at once. "I won't leave you, _Bruder.__**" **_He said immediately, and Arthur almost gagged at the complete devotion in his voice. Damn Germans with their brother complexes.

"As for me, I guess it'd be nice. But not in New England." Gilbert finally said, and Arthur nodded again. They sat in silence for a while, Arthur simply looking around the cabin boringly and Gilbert looking through a map he just received somewhere (or stole, Arthur didn't care).

There was a loud bang and some barely stifled chuckling, before the door to the captain's cabin on _die Ehrfucht _slammed open. Arthur tensed immediately, but allowed the Frenchman to drape himself over Arthur's shoulder. He was obviously drunk.

"Arthur, _mon cher!" _

"What is it now, frog?" He asked boringly. He swore Francis was only going to New England as well to bother him.

"I longed to see you so!" Francis said, flirting shamelessly and Arthur shrugged his shoulders to get the Frenchman off. "Your oaf of an quartermaster left me hours ago and-"

"Alfred? Why were you with Alfred?" Arthur asked, now curious. Francis sighed dramatically and slumped heavier on the Englishman, ignoring his attempts to get him off.

"I was drinking and he stumbled into the same bar. Naturally I invited him to my table, and we got to talk. He asked me about you!"

Arthur smirked. Did he now? He wondered if Alfred was unaware of the fact that he and Francis practically shared everything they heard. Arthur would never say it out loud, but he appreciated the Frenchman and his love for gossiping; and besides, Francis was a good friend when he wasn't constantly horny or constantly annoying him.

"Perhaps you should tell him some events because you know that care killed the cat!" Francis sang poorly, and Arthur winced at the loud voice near his ear. "Ah, _sa curiosité est très adorable… Mais tu es mon seul amour, _Arthur_!" _

Arthur scoffed. "Just get off me, frog." Francis obeyed this time and went to fuss over the little Italian at Ludwig's side immediately. Ludwig was rather bothered by it and started cursing under his breath, but the drunken Frenchman was completely out of it and instead continued lashing attention over Feliciano.

"Well, I should be on my way." Arthur finally said, standing up. Gilbert gave a wide grin and nodded, and he walked out, Elizabeth high on his tail. She smiled widely, revealing to have so much more feminine features than she pretended to, and quickly kissed his cheek.

"If you're going to come again, please alert me! I'll make you a cake or something."

Arthur smiled shyly at the woman – somehow she had always had that effect on him. When he first met the Beilschmidt crew, he thought they were utterly insane (they still are), but he befriended them and Antonio nonetheless. They all stayed at the same inn, so it was hard not to, because they constantly bumped into each other.

He had honestly thought Elizabeth was actually an Eli, but after one afternoon where he barged into Elizabeth's and Roderich's room to demand his pocket watch back (he _knew _the Austrian stole it), he not only found his pocket watch, but also found a rather embarrassed Eli with quite a different chest he had expected. To avoid being hit with the hardest thing in her reach, he had dove out of the room, and hid in his own for two hours before he dared coming out.

As soon as he stepped out of his room though, Roderich had pushed him right back into it and gave him one of the longest lectures he had to endure in his life.

To make a long story short, he respected Elizabeth's wish to stay on the ship so she could live with Roderich.

He also knew they indeed, would most likely bail as soon as they were in New England.

"That sounds jolly good, Eli." Arthur fondly said, nodding. Elizabeth was probably one of the two, three people he wouldn't dare lay a hand on.

Elizabeth smiled widely and turned around again, leaving for her own quarters.

The door to the captain's quarters slammed open again and Arthur chuckled as he saw Ludwig practically throwing Francis out. The Frenchman pouted but cheered up when he saw Arthur, and quickly ran over to him joyfully.

"Let's go out for a drink?" He asked charmingly and Arthur frowned at him. Taking his silence as an agreement, Francis cheerfully grabbed his arm and lead him towards the city. Arthur didn't really had any intention on getting drunk, but one drink couldn't hurt.

"But please don't get drunk, I don't have enough money to compensate for you."

"What! I hardly ever get drunk! And you're one to talk!" Arthur quickly bit back, glaring harshly at his fellow blonde captain.

"When will you get something done about that tacky messy hair of yours, Arthur? Look at my hair, it is so shiny!"

"Shut your trap, no one wants to look like a sissy girl."

"Oh but Arthur, everyone who is someone grows out their hair and fashions it! The ladies – and men – love it!" At the small addition Arthur scoffed.

"Why are you always such a damn wanker."

"Fine, don't listen to me! Good luck being such a loser, _mon ami._ I care for you anyway! Ohonhonhon!"

"Bugger off, I'm not jealous of you, Persinette." Arthur finished the argument with a threatening glare and Francis raised his hands, waving them slightly.

"Fine by me, _sourcils_." He replied sweetly, draping another arm over his friend's shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>AN : So I'm writing a Vietnam story, but I think it'll suck :'D Anyone out there who'll read it? It's USUK :DDD I hope someone with some great history knowledge will read it so (s)he can correct me when I make mistakes :C<strong>

_sa curiosité est trop adorable _–his curiosity is too adorable

_Mais tu es mon seul amour! –_ But you are my only love !

Persinette: The original story of Rapunzel. The Grimm Brothers' story is an adaptation of the fairy tale _Persinette_ by Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force originally published in 1698.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Alfred smiled as he looked at the sea in front of him. Tomorrow they'd finally set sail again, and now towards the Caribbean. He couldn't wait to see something he heard so much about, but had never seen. He could even imagine how it must be there.

He didn't have watch that night, but decided to stay out anyway, since it wasn't as cool as it used to be during the nights. He'd choose the fresh night air over the smelly, stuffed up air in the hammocks any day.

He had been dozing off on the deck for a while now, and was abruptly awoken when he heard a string of curses and some obnoxious laughter coming closer to the ship. He frowned and sat up, rubbing his head and stretching.

As he turned his head he was comically surprised to see his captain in the arms of the French captain, the latter making the obnoxious laughter.

"Arthur, _ma chérie, mon lapin, tu es un jolie petite chose, si sauvage et inculte.." _Alfred had absolutely no idea what the hell the Frenchman was saying, but he decided he didn't like it by the tone of voice.

"Ye're a smug bastard, don' treat me like ya women." Arthur bit back at him, and Francis chuckled, nuzzling his nose into Arthur's blonde hair.

Alfred huffed, his captain clearly wasn't enjoying the attention even if he didn't do anything about it. In his young mind, this could only mean his captain was drunk and didn't know what was happening. Being a hero and all that, Alfred stood up and marched over quickly, clearing his throat, trying to look very mature when both captains stopped their movements and looked at him.

Okay, so maybe Arthur wasn't completely unwilling. He scrunched his nose when he saw where Arthur's hands had disappeared. So much for the doubt that his captain had once committed sodomy. Or maybe Francis was just a woman, it wouldn't be a surprise.

"Ahaha, _monsieur _Jones! What a surprise. I was just helping _mon ami _Arthur to his room, he has had one to many." He explained and Arthur shoved at him, removing his hands at once.

Alfred glared. "Yeah, he's back on the ship now, thanks. I'll take care of it from here."

"Ah, _cher_ Alfred, I don't think you quite understand-"

"Get lost frog." Arthur ordered loudly, stumbling over to his quartermaster with a fierce determination in his eyes. Francis frowned at both of them and then pouted with a small glare at Alfred. Alfred smirked. So much for getting lucky for the French bastard.

"_Au bientôt, _my friends." Francis eventually said, nodding and leaving. Alfred smirked even wider and Arthur huffed, turning around to head for his quarters. Alfred worriedly watched him to the door until Arthur turned around and glared at him with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Get over here already, you oaf."

Alfred's eyebrows raised at the insult and he almost wanted to say something back, before reminding that making his captain angry was _one thing, _but making his _drunk _captain angry was another thing. He rolled his eyes instead and followed, opening the door when Arthur seemed to be having trouble with it.

As soon as the door was opened and Arthur had taken one step inside, he grabbed Alfred's shirt and yanked him towards himself, pressing against him and kicking the door shot. Alfred yelped at the sudden movements but his sounds were repressed when Arthur leaned up and pressed his mouth against him hungrily, not even giving a warning.

Alfred tried to break the angry, drunken kiss, but noticed he was fairly incapable of doing so, and instead was pushed towards a door he knew all too well. Arthur made short work of that door and they stumbled into his bedroom quarters.

"Woah, sir, don't-"

"Shut up you blasted idiot." Arthur ordered in a husky voice. "_You_ didn't want Francis to continue."

Alfred's mind short circuited when Arthur pushed him on the bed and climbed atop of him immediately. Oh. So Francis… Arthur _wasn't _unwilling? He suddenly understood why Francis looked vaguely amused aside from being disappointed, and why Arthur had made the quick decision to just cross over.

He gasped when Arthur's hand dove underneath his loose white shirt, not knowing what to do. Hell, he had been kissed o_nce _by this same person, what the hell was he supposed to do! Arthur snickered, a rare sound he never, ever heard from his captain, and Alfred blushed when Arthur looked him in the eye.

"What to do with you, what to do with you." Arthur simply said, his fingers brutally pinching a nipple and Alfred yelped, clenching his eyes shut. Arthur chuckled. "What do you want me to do with you?" He eventually said, nuzzling Alfred's cheek.

"Don't… I – I don't.. what.." Alfred couldn't form a sentence and he hated himself for it, knowing he could be a lot more composed if he wanted to. He didn't know what he wanted, either. He opened his eyes and stared at Arthur's blonde mop of hair confusingly, wondering what he should say as response. His captain was obviously drunk out of his mind and he doubted a normal, civil conversation would be appropriate.

He shivered when Arthur's crotch area met his own, and rose up to meet his captains hips immediately. Arthur snickered again and looked at him. "What do _you _want do to me?"

Despite the awkwardness of this situation, despite the drunken smell on his captain's breath and despite the fact he was the captain and Alfred could be killed coldly for this, Alfred moaned at the look in Arthur's eyes and wrapped his arms around the lower back of his captain.

Arthur's response was to kiss him, before he began pushing back down on Alfred's crotch, rubbing up and down and allowing Alfred's hands to weave into his hair and his legs to trap his own. Arthur's arms wiggled down and both of their belts were snapped lose, Alfred lifting his hips off so Arthur could shove them to the ground.

Completely inexperienced and unknowing what to do, all Alfred could do was respond to the kiss with the best of his ability, and pushing back up once Arthur pushed down. He didn't have the slightest clue how this was going to end, only that Arthur was getting sloppy in his kisses and looked at him with a hazed look, before doing something that completely surprised Alfred – he used his left hand and wormed them into Alfred's pants, taking hold and squeezing.

Alfred never knew his vision could whiten that much, but it did, and he moaned and pressed his captain closer, hearing a continuous tantrum of his surname being whispered in his ear, as his captain's movements slowed down eventually. He gasped, coming back to his senses, his arms cramping from holding the other so tightly. He loosened his hold and Arthur noticed, rolling away from him immediately, sighing.

Once he could see straight again, Alfred duly noticed that his captain had fallen asleep right away and he gave a disbelieving, hearty chuckle. This… was weird. Really, really weird. He just… had sex. Kinda. Not really. He frowned at his trousers, they'd had to be washed. As did his captain's.

Supposing that it wouldn't be pleasant when Arthur would wake up the next morning, Alfred stumbled off the bed, still feeling a tingling daze all over his body. He grabbed his belt and threw the covers over his captain, before stumbling out of the room and towards the hammocks, where everyone was thankfully sound asleep.

After doing his duty as a quartermaster, Alfred sat down near the front mast, blinking towards the bright sun. He had a small moment of peace before his captain stomped over towards him. Reggie looked at them for a moment before shrugging, but Alfred blushed seven colors of red when he noticed the vigorous look in his captain's eyes.

"Alfred, I heard you were up late yesterday."

"Ah, yeah… you came in with the F-French bastard pretty late." Alfred said quickly, stuttering a little because of his growing embarrassment. However, all Arthur did was scowl.

"Damn that frog. I suppose you didn't see him leave?"

Alfred looked at him confusingly, before everything clicked. Arthur didn't remind what happened yesterday. He was under the impression that his messed bed and clothes were all Francis' doing. Alfred tensed, feeling horribly angry about it. That French bastard should be the least of Arthur's worries. He didn't deserve someone like his captain either. Alfred wanted to tell him that he told Francis to leave and that Arthur had then nearly dragged him to his bedroom, but decided it wouldn't be very smart of him to do.

"…No. I had already returned to my hammocks. Something happened?" Alfred settled on saying coldly, looking away and missing his captain's small glance of confusion at his tone.

"Never mind." Arthur slowly said, narrowing his eyes at his quartermaster before turning around and taking the steering wheel from Reggie, who left soon after that. "You excited yet?"

"Eh? About what?"

"New England? Please tell me how you were planning to escape."

If Alfred hadn't been paying good attention, he'd almost missed the sneer behind his captains words. He frowned. "I…" Telling a lie would be futile and he knew it. "I haven't thought about it yet." He admitted, leaning back again.

Arthur visibly relaxed a little and looked at Alfred curiously. "That's strange, coming from you." He mocked, cocking his head and Alfred shrugged. "Are you even under the impression you can escape or not? Or better yet, _do _you want to leave this ship?"

Alfred frowned and looked at his captain, glaring a little. "Of course." He knew he'd get away with admitting it, so why not do that? "Don't think I'm not glad I'm on this ship instead of some barbarian pirate's, but I still hate it here."

At this, his captain silenced and for a moment Alfred regretted what he said, seeing the rather dull look in his captain's eyes. Arthur sighed, turning away again.

The next morning, when Alfred was rudely woken up by other crewmates and was ordered to sweep the deck by a crewmate he never really knew that well, he discovered he'd been demoted from quartermaster to ordinary sailor again. He thought better than going up to his captain and ask what was wrong because he probably knew, and the captain probably didn't want him either, since he hadn't nagged him for anything yet.

Even though he didn't feel he had anything to apologize for, Alfred kept staring at his captain whenever his hands were clear of something to do, and his mind kept making up ideas on how to apologize.

He was glad he had watch tonight, because he didn't think he'd be able to sleep with the idiotic turmoil in him. Deciding the other crewmate who was on watch with him could go up on the mast, he sat down at the mast nearby the wheel and leant back.

A few hours later Alfred woke very slowly, wondering why he had fallen asleep on watch. That probably wasn't a good thing; but at least he managed to sleep after all. Once he was a little clearer, he found out why he woke – he felt watched. He felt another presence in his area, but he felt relaxed and tried not to tense or smile (which should he do?) when he realized it was probably Arthur.

He carefully moved his head a little to the right and through a tiny, tiny opening he could see the red coat of his captain.

_Oh_.

He suddenly felt a little warmer. Arthur was sitting there, watching him. He might've not been watching him, but he was still sitting awfully close to him. Alfred wondered what the captain was thinking or why he was staring, and it made him feel rather silly, though he didn't know why.

Alfred started a little when his face was suddenly touched, and he hoped he could feign it as just a sleepy reaction. The hand retracted immediately, as if it touched fire, and he heard a scoff.

"Rise and shine, Jones."

He opened his eyes and grinned cheekily at his captain, deciding not to frown upon being called Jones. The captain looked slightly embarrassed, but regained a cool face.

"It's not even dawn yet, captain."

Arthur smirked at him, before reaching out again. Alfred froze completely, holding his breath as his captain's hand slowly touched his forehead. Arthur's fingers spread a little and they touched his hair softly, tugging at the ignorant lock lightly. He pouted at the tug and Arthur tugged a little harder, smirking again.

He felt it again, he felt silly, warm and comfortable, those green eyes burning into his. Arthur retracted his hand and sighed. "You're strange."

"Thank you."

Arthur scoffed and stood up, towering over the other. "Get up and get to work." He made to walk away when Alfred reached out and quickly got a hold of the fabric of the red coat, and tugged a little to get the captain's attention.

"Yes, Alfred?"

"Nothing." He let go as quickly as he grabbed the fabric, not sure why he had done it anyway. Arthur looked at him with a calculating gaze, before he smirked.

"Was it you, that night, instead of Francis? You've been acting awfully different." Alfred didn't reply and instead blushed fiercely, coughing and clearing his throat while quickly clambering up so he towered over his captain instead. "Ha, so it was."

"I… eh… don't really like the Frenchy."

"I'm under the impression nobody does." Arthur said, amused. "Are you upset with me demoting you, by the way? You did not nag me at all today."

Ha. How ironic Arthur said that to him while he had thought the exact same. "Not really. I wasn't fit to be a quartermaster anyway."

There was a short silence before Arthur nodded his agreement, and gave a little smile that made Alfred's heart twitch. Fuck, he was really bothered by this. He had to get off this ship as soon as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>SO MUCH HAPPENED lolnot**

**Next chapter will be a few weeks later I guess, I need a timeskip lol**


	13. Chapter 13

**DUDES**

**I'm so back into this story. I don't even remember why I was out of it. Thank you for your reviews while I was doing unimportant stuff! **

**Chapter 13**

Something about the Caribbean, or this side of the world, unnerved Arthur. He had never been able to pinpoint what, seeing he had more reasons to be unnerved in Europe.

It was in these seas he was on extra alert though, his hours of sleeping even less than before and his hours outside even more. If any, the change of climate was terrible. But it had been terrible in Africa too. England was, when it came about the weather, probably the best.

As always, as soon as the wheat blonde oaf of an man that named itself Alfred left the galley and entered the deck, Arthur's eyes glued themselves to the other and followed his movements discreetly.

He had no idea why he was so keen on doing this either. But he was captain, and no one would dare question him, so he had no reason to feel any kind of shame.

Alfred almost immediately noticed the other crewmembers hanging off the railings and pointing, and Arthur saw his face delicately form into a confused frown. He made to move towards the railings too, when his head did a turn and Arthur was met with the shockingly blue eyes.

Slightly surprised Alfred _still _looks at him so directly, he didn't waver as Alfred made his way over to him with a brilliant smile. As soon as Alfred reached him, Arthur tore his gaze away slowly, looking down as well, and Alfred took it as a sign to do the same.

Once he looked down, Alfred saw what the commotion was all about. They were sailing a little faster than usual due to the favorable winds, and next to the small waves they were creating, dolphins were jumping up and down the surface of the water, making noises while at it.

Arthur watched him widening his eyes, leaning over the railing to catch a better look, surprised when one of the dolphins squealed.

He chuckled. "I take you have never seen dolphins?"

The other shook his head with an even brighter smile. Arthur knows Alfred had never been anywhere except for England and where Arthur took him to. He'd been in the Caribbean for about a week now, and he'd heard the other crewmembers try to scare Alfred with all kinds of tales.

Which, most of the times worked, but Arthur wouldn't admit he was actually listening in on any of these 'conversations'.

"They're magnificent." Alfred said delightfully, watching as a dolphin took a leap out of the water for a breather.

Arthur smirked. "You can make them do tricks, you know." At the way Alfred looked at him confused, he straightened up. There was no harm in showing him, after all.

"This doesn't involve guns, right?"

"If you would propose to shoot one of these creatures, I would rather throw you out there as food for the sharks."

"Point taken, sir." Alfred said quickly, saluting with an amused grin.

Arthur took of his hat and leant over the railings very far, and swung his hat around a little bit, catching the attention of a dolphin. With that, he dropped his hat and Alfred tried to grasp it, but it slid between his fingers and he grumbled.

Arthur didn't pay any attention and instead watched as the dolphin plucked the hat out of the water with a powerful leap, and Arthur stretched his hand so he could grab it. He put it back on his head and turned away from the water again, watching Alfred's child-like expression.

"…that was _amazing. _Do it again?" Alfred seemed to notice what he did, and blushed brightly. Arthur couldn't help it – and chuckled as he saw the other fidget.

"Eh.. so are we going to Tortuga?"

Deciding to not comment on the obvious change of subject, Arthur scowled. "To a French settlement? Of course not. We are heading for Port Royal."

"Port Royal?" Alfred asked nonchalantly, leaning against the railings with his back turned to the water and the dolphins. Arthur remained steady eye contact, amused by the fact Alfred never once looked away from him unless his attention was diverted. What a challenge, indeed.

"Southeastern Jamaica. Do not expect much of it, it was destroyed in 1692. We are going to restock and then continue on. We're not to stay docked here for very long, until we reached our destination." Arthur said with a somewhat stressed frown. Really, these seas aren't what they have been.

"Oh… why's that?"

"The navy." Arthur said simply, with a small smile. "They're trying to protect their important colonies more, which happens to be a lot more of America, or New England. Who knows where they are creeping about."

"Isn't that kind of paranoid?"

"Piracy is not what it used to be, Alfred. While I am still able to bring down most of the ships the Navy will send to me, even my indestructible ship – that how it was called in the papers, if I recall? – cannot handle too many attacks after another."

"We've hardly been attacked at all."

"While I am not certain, I like to refer to this situation as calm before the storm." Arthur turned around and headed for the steering wheel, and noticed Alfred following curiously. He sighed. "I have been here twice before, and I docked at Tortuga with Francis once. I was naïve but followed my captain nonetheless, and it almost got me killed. Tortuga is not what you heard from the stories – it used to be, but the European government had made sure almost no pirates can still enter Tortuga the same way they used to did. Francis is just a smug bastard who gets away with everything, therefore, he is probably in Tortuga at the moment."

Alfred nodded, understanding. "So that's why we're docking in Port Royal, huh?"

"Mainly, yes. Port Royal is also under sterner control by the Navy than it used to be, but it's safer. Just keep down. Or flee, I don't care." He added eventually, looking at Alfred calculatingly.

Alfred tensed, clearing his throat. "Flee, sir?"

Arthur smirked. "Don't play dumb, Jones, you're not here by will and as soon as we're on land you'll go and settle somewhere." He continued, unnerving Alfred by looking straight in his eyes the entire time. It was almost like he was trying to intimidate him (which always worked), but at the same time Alfred didn't feel very threatened.

He didn't answer, and Arthur didn't wait for very long. He shook his head as if he thought of a joke, and turned around, heading for the upper deck. Alfred sighed, hanging over the rails again to glance at the slowly disappearing dolphins.

Did he want to stay on the ship or did he want to settle on land? He didn't really know. When he first arrived on the ship, he would do anything to get off it, but now… it's weird, but he feels like he has his friends, the crew. Even though they're probably horrible, traitorous friends. And it wasn't that bad.

Y'know, when you're on land you have to find a job so you can provide for yourself and you have all these rules and commitments.. and on sea you don't; just listen to the captain and he'll do the rest for you.

The killing and stealing was a bad point here. But he wouldn't have to kill, as long as he just protected the ship and crew when he was asked to do it.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he pushed himself of the railings and stomped to the middle of the deck, to start on his chores.

As soon as they docked on Port Royal, people got to work very quickly. Arthur had informed them they wouldn't stay for very long and they weren't allowed to cause a lot of ruckus, or he'd have to leave those idiots behind. The flag had been replaced and Arthur had left his beloved captain's coat and hat in his cabin, because those would be too recognizable.

Alfred couldn't take his eyes off of him at first; he looked so different and normal in commoner's clothing. Usually he was also wearing fancy shirt and trousers, but now he was just common and it was bloody _fascinating._

Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, or a lion in the disguise of a deer. But that's probably just because Alfred knows what he really is.

"I want to leave before _Die Ehrfucht _arrives here as well. Seems they are smart enough to follow my lead instead of Francis'. Still, another ship like ours would attract to much attention." He heard Arthur mutter to the first mate, Tim.

After that, the crew just spread, all having their own tasks. Alfred found it rather boring he had to go with Reggie to get the gunpowder and other weaponry supplies; those stores were never in the fun places of towns.

Eventually, he got distracted from Reggie's endless babbling about the cannons in the ship (his babies), by the people walking around the port. He had noticed several marines, and tried not to be too obviously tense when he passed them. They didn't spare him a second glance though, so he guessed he was fine. Other than marines, there were a lot of beggars and he assumed whores – ladies with a lot of skirts and a lot of naked skin. They were laughing flirtatiously at every man (sometimes even women) passing, and he had seen a marine disappearing with one in an alley.

He sniffed at the thought distastefully. Sure, they were pretty and all, but… the thought of whores was slightly appalling to him. He figured he'd love to spend his coins on beer more than on them. Wait, did that make him weird? He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts.

Would the captain hire whores?

He slapped himself.

Reggie was momentarily astonished and looked at him silently, figuring he must've gone mad or something.

"Got something on me face?" Alfred asked him, slightly irritated, and Reggie continued babbling. He pretended to be interested in his tales from then on, occasionally nodding, and they got their supplies rather quick. Reggie was told by Tim to stay on the ship afterwards, but no one had told anything to Alfred. He supposed he could go out.. but he'd be safer on the ship. But he wasn't a coward. And besides, what's the harm in a little exploring?

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and went out, trying to figure how to go around the town without meeting to many unwanted people. There weren't as many bars as in, say, Loanda, but he noticed quite some streets that had enough rowdy people in it.

He even accidentally took a wrong turn once, and ended up straight in what he could only define as a 'whore street'. He blushed as some of the girls on the streets cat called him and whipped their skirts, trying to ignore them. Definitely not his area, this.

As if sensing the trouble, he stopped and looked up right at someone else watching him as well, from a small distance. He squinted and made out a rather tall figure.

"Whoring yourself out, _da_?"

Oh for god's sake.

He shook his head and took a few steps forwards, puffing his chest out slightly (reflexes, he couldn't help it) and glared at the Russian.

"Even if I were, I bet I'd make better money than you."

Ivan raised his eyebrows, ever present smile lingering on his face. "I don't know Alfred, you are kind off an appalling human being. So uncultered."

"Perhaps you're compensating for something with that big mouth of yours, Ivan." Alfred bit back, eyeing his surroundings carefully. Getting into a fight in here might not even attract that many marines…

Surprisingly enough, Ivan wasn't really up for a fight this night. He only smiled that creepy smile and cocked his head at Alfred. "Perhaps, but I have a very lovely whore waiting for me so we won't have to fight about that." Alfred startled at the sudden, random words. "You can find him in the bar two streets from here." Ivan said, stepping back.

"Him? Who're you talking about?"

Ivan giggled, and Alfred was always a little unnerved by that. "The captain of course. Or weren't you looking for him? You're always looking for him. Suppose he hasn't tired of you yet."

Alfred glared. "I wasn't looking for him. Why would I look for him?"

"I wouldn't know, same reason I was looking for a whore, _da_?"

"Sick bastard." Alfred only shot back, by lack of better response because Ivan had already turned around and was waltzing off to one of the houses in the street.

He suppose he could go to that bar though. Not because his captain was there… More of his crew would probably be there. And the bar would probably be safe and good. Nothing to do with Arthur.

"Awww, he's shy, he's blushing!" At the words, Alfred looked up curiously and noticed two girls in skirts looking and giggling at him, and he frowned. He wasn't blushing, stupid women. "I'll give you a discount, want to come over?"

"No, thanks ladies, I've got somewhere to be!" He replied quickly, scratching the back of his head.

The girls laughed. "She as pretty as us, then?"

He smirked, the thought of his captain popping up in his mind as always. He couldn't imagine his captain in a skirt- oh, wow, that was mind-scarring. Anyways. "A whole different kind of beauty." Alfred reassured them, and they giggled, but lost interest and resumed chatting.

Like Ivan had said, he arrived at a shady looking bar two streets up, and as he went in he quickly met up with some members of his crew. He was pulled down on a table quickly, and he laughed at some joke that was made, before he looked around the room and found the blonde mop of hair that probably belonged to his captain. Involuntarily of course.

As if he was feeling the eyes on his back, Arthur turned to the side slightly, looking him directly in the eyes. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, not batting an eye when Tim stood up from the table and folded the map, pocketing it and walking away to God knows where. As if on automatic, Alfred quickly stood up and walked over to the other table, sitting down opposite from the table.

Arthur smirked. "Surprised you are still here."

"No, you're not."

"Didn't flee with some whore who'll you marry and have babies with, before dumping her when you find out she's horribly sick and end up a lone man?" At Alfred's frown, he chuckled. "Lots of pirates are easily charmed by their breasts."

"I don't even have the coins to hire one, so not really."

"Would you like some?"

Alfred silenced, looking at his captain awkwardly. He wasn't offering him the money to hire a whore, was he? The thought disgusted him just a bit. Not to mention he'd be in the captain's debt even more than he was now and oh lord, imagine the work he was going to do.

Suddenly he chuckled. Well, that train of thoughts obviously decided it for him – that he probably wasn't going to go anywhere without the Emerald Dragon. Arthur didn't mention the sudden chuckle and instead just downed the rest of his ale, pushing the cup away from him afterwards.

"I'm not really interested in women." At Arthur's surprised look, he choked on his words. "I-I mean _those _women, whores! I mean the whores! I'm not interested in the whores!" He wondered if he said that a bit too loudly, but the other pirates were still as loud as ever.

The captain just nodded and smirked, leaning back and folding his arms over each other, not saying a word. Alfred sighed. "I'm not running off." He eventually said, running a hand through his hair. The captain's eyes flickered somewhere else for the briefest moment, and when Alfred followed his gaze he noticed an unknown group of (probably) pirates walking in the bar.

"You know them?" He asked curiously.

Arthur responded with a shake of his head, eying them carefully. He probably didn't want his own crew to start a fight, but their crew seemed rather occupied with themselves, sharing stories of mermaids once again. Horny bastards.

As soon as the other group of people settled down and shouted for drinks, Arthur relaxed slightly, his gaze directing itself back to Alfred. Said man was somehow relieved as well; he didn't feel for any fights or any running, so just leaving each other the hell alone seemed like a better plan.

He pulled his gaze away from the group as well once Arthur's boot bumped against his, and he looked over at the captain. Any normal person would have pulled back again, noticing the lack of space, but Arthur seemed very comfortable. He frowned and noticed Arthur looking at the crew again. They weren't doing very much, except one was toying with one of the boys serving drinks.

Alfred was momentarily confused. Pirates, they probably weren't afraid to be accused of sodomy, judging by how some act. After all, they were pirates, why the hell should they care.

Arthur whipped his gaze back to Alfred, smirking. "So, you are not interested in women?"

"I meant whores-"

"You told me you ran away from your family because you had responsibilities you didn't want to meet. One of them being engaged. What did the girl look like?"

"I didn't' run away because- oh forget it. I guess she was pretty."

"Define pretty."

"I don't know. Long brown hair and big eyes, small and soft. I didn't really see her a lot." He replied dully, not liking the memories a lot.

"Did you fancy her?" Arthur asked curiously, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. Alfred momentarily looked into the sharp green eyes of his captain and bit on his cheek, shrugging.

"Not really… I didn't know her, so what's there to fancy? Sure she was pretty, but that just doesn't do it for me. I guess knowing it was an arranged marriage kind off killed the fire, you know?" he explained shortly. It was true, he hadn't fancied her, he liked her but he hadn't loved her or had felt attracted to her.

"Is that so.. did you already have a sweetheart back at home?"

Alfred frowned, wondering where the concern for his life suddenly came from. His breath caught in his throat however, when the captain's foot still remaining against his suddenly became active, gently rubbing up and down his calve. He probably blushed like a some girl now, but he didn't pull back.

"No." He replied curtly.

There was a long, tense silence, and Alfred wondered if he should look away, seeing Arthur was so keen on intensely staring at him, intimidating him. It wasn't that bad, he didn't squirm underneath his gaze or anything. He just didn't know where to look, but he guessed those green eyes were a good spot to rest his eyes on.

Suddenly, Arthur stood up, throwing a single golden coin on the table for the drinks he's had. "Follow me." He said with a smirk, turning around and leaving for the exit. It was all Alfred could do to not scramble after him in haste, his stomach clenching slightly.

* * *

><p><strong>Will we have smexy time in the next chapter? Or something else? Perhaps drama, tragedy, OH THE OPTIONS- I mean; I'm sorry for the long wait and I will give you USUK to feast on.<strong>

**Port Royal – A city located at the end of Palisadoes at the mouth of the Kingston Harbor, in southeastern Jamaica. It was founded in 1518 and was the center of shipping commerce in the Caribbean Sea. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, about twenty years prior to this story. It's still popular in 1711, but it's popularity was steadily taken over by the town of Kingston. **

**The Navy I was talking about – by 1700, the European States had enough troops and ships at their disposal to begin better protecting the important colonies in the West Indies and in the Americas without relying on the aid of privateers. Thus, this spelled the doom for the buccaneer and pirate. After 1730, most Pirates disappeared from this place too, chased from the seas by a new English Royal Navy squadron based at Port Royal. **

**This is mainly the reason why Arthur is so paranoid about docking at Port Royal, but he has no other choice really, since Tortuga is almost impossible.**

**Tortuga – In 1680, new acts of Parliament forbade sailing under foreign flags. Settlements were made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates were hired out into the Royal services to suppress their former buccaneer allies. **

**Basically; Arthur is kinda playing it safe by staying on the seas a lot and not docking at Tortuga, and yes, Francis is just a smug bastard that gets away with everything, even docking at Tortuga for too long. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Oh boy, if you disliked me for last chapter's cliffhanger, you're going to HATE me for this one. Lol! **

**Chapter 14**

Alfred wasn't sure of where this was supposed to go. He knew they were headed for the ship, he could recognize his surroundings. He stayed behind the captain, not saying a word, simply watching his surroundings or the captain.

A few crewmembers greeted them loudly when they arrived on the ship and Arthur nodded at them in recognition, before heading straight to his cabin.

Alfred tensed. Was he supposed to follow? Or was he just supposed to do some nasty chore? What was he supposed to do?

Arthur stopped and impatiently looked at him – that was answer enough. He cleared his throat and quickly followed his captain, and stilled his movements once they were both inside the cabin, door shut. Arthur went over to his desk and sat down on the chair, pulling something out.

"Take a look at this."

Alfred walked over and looked down at what the captain spread out on the desk carefully. It was a large map, and some parts were able to be moved, but they were already in the correct order. If he remembered it correctly, it seemed like a map of New England.

"Yeah?"

Arthur eyed him closely. "I'm giving you one chance, Alfred. Pick a spot where you want to be dropped and you're a free man." At Alfred's silent surprise, he sighed. "A ship can be a horrible place if you don't feel home on it, I know. I have no reason to keep you, because I have enough manpower. It's your decision."

Toying with the idea (or with his captain), he rubbed his neck and sat down on the chair on the other side of the desk. He looked down at the map, inspecting it closely. His eyes darted from one place or another, but nothing really caught his attention. That pen on the right of the map though, was that made from glass? Holy cow, that was a nice pen. Wait, wait, map.

"I suppose you could show me around other places before I choose my pick… Pirate round and stuff." Alfred said nonchalantly, straightening and looking away from the map. Arthur smirked, pushing the map aside.

"I doubt those will be places where you can settle down and raise a family."

Alfred swallowed at the intense look his captain gave him, once again. "That wasn't really my… intention, though. Settling down." He smiled lightly and looked down at the desk, eyes following the curves of the wood without much interest. He didn't know why, but he didn't feel very on edge anymore, even though he knew his captain was watching him closely. Hell, the fact that Arthur gave him the choice to leave or stay was pretty amazing itself, and he couldn't help the warm feeling spreading pleasantly through his body.

There was a creaking noise, and Alfred looked up in time to see Arthur practically climbing over his desk on a weird agile way he would never hope to copy, but that didn't matter because seconds after he was practically sprawled on his lap, his hands gripping his hair tightly. His smirk was still there, green eyes twinkling, and Alfred's heart skipped a beat as his smile brightened. Oh lord, this was so fucking weird. This was his captain. Not a girl. This was a pirate who could kill in cold blood.

It didn't really stop Alfred from raising his head and nudging his nose to Arthur's cheekbone, not quite brave enough to actually initiate something. Arthur did though, pushing his lips against the other's slowly at first.

Alfred had a hard time responding immediately – this had happened before but the captain had been toying with him, and the other time he was drunk, and now he was- _oh. _Arthur, his captain, bloody Arthur, was in his lap, grinding down and licking his lips slowly, and _oh shit._

"Get up." Arthur ordered roughly, and Alfred did just that, steadying himself when Arthur decided to clung onto him and wrapped his legs around the other's waist. His hands immediately went to his captain's waist, holding onto him as Arthur was nipping on his lips teasingly. "The wall. Or the bed. Or the desk. I don't care, something."

The desk was close enough, so he just dropped Arthur on it. He didn't know why he had the guts to do anything, but he suddenly had them, and he pressed himself on the smaller body, fiercely responding to the kiss Arthur was still initiating. He must've been doing something right because his captain hummed and rolled his hips against his own, his hands diving into the other's hair again to grip onto the locks.

"Alfred, don't act like such a virgin, you brat." Arthur suddenly taunted, breaking away from the kiss and pulling at his hair harshly. "Come on, _take me._" One hand let go of his hair and dove under his shirt, tickling his stomach and the hairs leading into his trousers.

Alfred groaned, hips involuntarily bucking. Fuck, what _was _this? Arthur sighed impatiently and his hand dove into his trousers, and Alfred gaped when he grabbed ahold of him, wordlessly looking at his captain. This wasn't a girl, this was a man, and oh god, he was sexually interested in a man. And Arthur was blushing, his eyes unfocused, he was panting, and what the hell should he do? He wasn't experienced and Arthur was probably very experienced!

He broke another heated kiss and buried his face in the other's neck, moaning. Too many thoughts were going on in his head, like 'should he call him captain or Arthur or should he just shut up', but he wasn't having a hard time concentrating. He panted, trying to collect some air to function normally again, and looked down to see Arthur's other hand trying to undo his own trousers. He shivered and leant in for another kiss, holding eye contact with Arthur challengingly.

"Bed." Arthur ordered softly, and Alfred quickly straightened to obey. Apparently his captain disliked the idea of walking, cause he clung to Alfred again, but it wasn't as if he minded. With some waddling around, he finally got them to the other room and was careful to not drop themselves on the bed mindlessly.

Arthur smirked and disentangled himself from the other, sticking two fingers in his own mouth and sucking on them.

"What…" Alfred began, staring at the other in confusion. Well, it wasn't as if he minded, he just didn't know why… why he would… His eyes widened considerably when Arthur shoved his own pants down his knees. His fingers disappeared behind him and Arthur smirked at the shocked look.

"You better mesmerize this because you're doing this next time."

Woah, there was going to be a next time?

His mind short circuited and he watched, entranced, as Arthur slid his own fingers in and out of himself. Didn't that _hurt_? Why was he doing it? Wait. He obviously didn't have a vagina. The idea of how they were going to do it suddenly crashed on him and he froze, not sure how to react. This was… weird. But he didn't mind it. Did he? No.

He felt Arthur's hand tugging at his trousers and he shook his head, pulling them down himself, and Arthur looked pleased, so he guessed he was doing it right. His captain then sighed. "I'm going to have to show you, don't I? Come on, on your back."

He wordlessly nodded and lied down on the bed, eyes nervously darting from his captain's face to his lower parts, when Arthur went to straddle him. His face was tinted red, and his eyes were glazed over, making the green appear a lot duller. Arthur's hair was slightly tangled, and he looked at Alfred questioningly – he'd been staring.

Alfred didn't say anything and Arthur smirked, before aligning himself with Alfred's cock, and oh god his _captain _is on top of him. He nearly lost it when Arthur just sunk down on him, and his hands immediately went to the other's hips. Arthur chuckles at his expression and rolls his hips slightly, leaning down so he bury his face in Alfred's neck. "Are you going to do the work or do I have to?"

He gives no response, panting, and Arthur moves, lifting his hips and lowering them once. It's so slow that Alfred grits his teeth in frustration, and his grip on the other's hips tighten. He hears Arthur hum and he moves again, lifting his hips and slamming back down faster than first.

Coming over the initial shock, Alfred tries to mimic him and meet him with thrusts of his own, but he soon notices the captain sets the pace. Not that he minded; he had no idea to go about this and what to do so the other enjoyed it.

He opens his eyes again, raking them over the other's pale chest and the scars marring it, and his hands splayed out on the rather narrow waist.

"You," He rasped, and Arthur looked at him immediately. "You know you… You look so good right now."

Arthur slowed down immediately. He glowered down at the other, his face almost a scowl. "I'm not a maiden." He snapped and Alfred tensed when his captain did; he could feel it after all.

"I know." Alfred said, and in a fit of bravery moved on of his hands from Arthur's waist to his cock, flicking the top of it, experimenting. Arthur's scowling face fell immediately, and he flushed a rather adorable (pirates aren't adorable) red. He shook his head and smirked, grabbing handfuls of Alfred's hair.

"I want you to flip our positions." He whispered in the other's ear. "And I want you to pound into me." He silenced before adding; "That's an order."

Alfred was in a haste to do what the captain ordered him.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaand end of chapter. Because I'm too much of a blushing schoolgirl to go on- <strong>

**Just fill the rest in yourself ;D**

**Probably going to end the story soon ;C**


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